Blog: Uncategorized

How to Take a Sensory Nature Walk (Urban Ecology Series)

Posted on by Jean Slavkovsky


Don’t go for just any walk, take a sensory nature walk!
Cultivate a keen eye—and nose, ear, and hand—when evaluating the qualities of our living world. Then use these observational skills to explore your local urban or suburban environment.
This program was designed by the MIT Public Library Innovation Exhange (PLIX) for students in grades 3-8, but can be enjoyed by anyone.
Pick up the Urban Ecology kit at the Malden Public Library. Call 781-324-0218 to reserve yours! If you can’t obtain one, most of these materials, or replacements for them can be found in the home.
This is part one in the Urban Ecology Series. Join Librarian Jean live Wednesday, August 12th at 3PM for part 2: Tangible Ecosystem (be sure to collect 8-10 specimens on your walk before this program). The Zoom link will be posted in the event calendar a few minutes before the program.

Urban Ecology Workshop Series for Grades 3-8

Posted on by Jean Slavkovsky

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/94882144614?pwd=QUExVFdqYTV5RloxTEZCUTNxRlkxUT09

Love the environment? Join Librarian Jean for a series of Urban Ecology Workshops designed by the MIT Public Library Innovation Exchange (PLIX) team (Learn more here).

Pick up activity bags beginning Monday, August 3rd 10-6PM.

Call 781-324-0218 or email jslavkovsky@maldenpubliclibrary.org to reserve a bag. Programs will be conducted over Zoom; a link will be added here.

Wednesday, August 5th 3-4PM Sensory Nature Walk: Cultivate a keen eye—and nose, ear, and hand—when evaluating the qualities of our living world. Then use these observational skills to explore your local urban or suburban environment.

Wednesday, August 12th 3-4PM Tangible Ecosystem: Learn how to highlight abiotic (nonliving) and biotic (living) factors as the key actors in the urban environment. Examine how these environmental components interact, as well as how they are related, to form unique ecologies associated with your local community.

Wednesday, August 19th 3-4PM Understanding Urban Soils: Explore the diverse functions and roles of soils—the foundation of all terrestrial ecosystems—and the types of life they support. Learn to categorize various soils and the species contained therein, and begin to unravel how urban environments shape soil structure and function.

Generously sponsored by Preotle, Lane, & Associates.

 

Campfire Ghost Stories (New recurring event!)

Posted on by Cait Quinn

Horror fans, podcast ghouls, and people who love a good scare before bedtime join us for virtual campfire ghost stories. If you were a fan of Are You Afraid of the Dark? or are missing the feeling of a chilly night with a good fire under the stars then these are the tales for you! Haunted tales told with a virtual fire crackling in the background; we will scare you, delight you, and hopefully lull you into a night of uneasy dreams. Muhahaha.

After each creepy episode you can come back here to relive the stories or catch up on stories you might have missed. In fact here comes one right now!

Schedule of haunts:

Thursday 7/23 @730 pm 

 

Thursday 7/30 @ 730pm

Tuesday 8/4 @ 730pm

Friday 8/21 @ 730 pm

Thursday 8/27 @ 730 pm

More dates to follow us into the Fall.

Bookmark this page and check back for new stories or watch a whole playlist and let us scare you into your eternal rest…

UPDATED: Young Adult Jackbox Trivia!

Posted on by Patrick Brennan

Young Adults in the 6th through 12th grade are invited to test their Trivia chops as we dive into the world of Trivia Murder Party 2! Jackbox games will require that you have access to Zoom and a separate window or mobile device. The game is trivia with a twist of mini-games and macabre humor!

The overall winner, or group of winners if needs dictate, will be entered into a drawing for a $10 Gift Card, so more than pride is on the line!

ZOOM LINK: https://zoom.us/j/97364307063

Bring your A-Game on Tuesday July 28th, from 3:00-4:00 PM!

Friday Folk & Fairy Tales: Mythological Birds

Posted on by Jean Slavkovsky

Join us Friday, July 24th at 12:15pm for the reading of “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Bird of Light, and the Grey Wolf” and “The Second Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor.” These stories were selected with an adult audience in mind. Click here to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PVKMhfD1pQ&list=PLynjS8HwKnkk4h2cYTo1RvlCRuLZ1XfeN&index=4&t=0s

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” ~ Neil Gaiman* Coraline

The pandemic has presented us with new challenges and exacerbated old ones. Folk and fairy tales do not merely entertain us, but teach and remind us that we can conquer whatever we face and help quell our fears and anxieties. As we are faced with new obstacles we also need new fairy tales. On these summer Fridays, we will be sharing a combination of old and new folk and fairy tales to aid our community in overcoming the challenges we face today.

UPDATE: YA Book Discussion: Rick Riordan, July 20th

Posted on by Patrick Brennan

Young Adults in the 6th-12th grade are invited to take part in our first Summer Reading online book discussions on July 20th from 3PM-4PM.

Join Librarian Patrick as we take a look at Rick Riordan’s series of mythological book series and talk about the history behind some of them. This conversation will take place over Zoom, and a recording will be made available after the event goes live. Sign up for Summer Reading on Beanstack to be added to the e-mail list.

UPDATE: Join us today at the zoom meeting link below:
https://zoom.us/j/98046100020

Join the conversation by following us on Twitter @MaldenMALibrary or on Facebook and Instagram.

VIRTUAL Story Time for Adults!
Friday Folk and Fairy Tales at 12:15PM

Posted on by Jean Slavkovsky

Join us Friday, June 26th at 12:15pm for the reading of a new fairy tale, “Reeling for the Empire” from Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell. This story is not recommended for children. A link will be posted here for the Zoom meeting 15 minutes before the event.

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” ~ Neil Gaiman* Coraline

The pandemic has presented us with new challenges and exacerbated old ones. Folk and fairy tales do not merely entertain us, but teach and remind us that we can conquer whatever we face and help quell our fears and anxieties. As we are faced with new obstacles we also need new fairy tales. On these summer Fridays, we will be sharing a combination of old and new folk and fairy tales to aid our community in overcoming the challenges we face today.

*Paraphrasing of G.K. Chesterton’s Red Angel: “Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.”

VIRTUAL Lunch Break Book Chat
Thursday, June 25th 12:15PM

Posted on by Jean Slavkovsky

Missed the book chat? Check out what staff and patrons recommended: Recommended Books

Take a break and join Librarian Jean for a casual discussion of what everyone’s been reading and find your next great read!

This program will be conducted via Zoom. The link will be posted fifteen minutes before the event in the “Upcoming Events” listing to the right of our homepage, maldenpubliclibrary.org, and in our Events Google Calendar. This program will not be recorded.