Malden Friends Newsletter

March 2026

Friends of The Malden Public Library Newsletter
March 03, 2026

Image description: The logo of the Friends of the Malden Public library, featuring a gargoyle sitting on top of books, superimposed on an image of the Malden Public Library. The text underneath the logo reads “Newsletter”.

Greetings Friends! It’s been a busy first quarter and we’re just getting started!

Firstly, thank you to our recent donors who made contributions through Fidelity Charitable and the American Online Giving Foundation!

If you know folks who would like to support the Friends, we are excited to announce that we updated our website (https://www.friendsofmaldenlibrary.org/) and now have an online donation fund through Give Butter (https://givebutter.com/E10DWX).

We are also happy to announce that our annual Wine Tasting Gala will take place on May 15 at the Converse Memorial Building in the Library. This year’s theme is Spring Bloom! Dress in your finest floral garments.

Yes, we know.

Image description: A gif of Meryl Streep as Devil Wears Prada’s Miranda Priestly saying “Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.”

We are looking into non-alcoholic options and 10% of the purchases at the Gala will go towards the Friends. We will have a silent auction featuring donations from local authors and businesses.

Image description: The “Save the Date” graphic for the Friends of the Malden Public Library Wine Tasting Gala. There’s a floral background with a glass of red wine. The text includes “Theme: Spring Bloom". The Gala will take place on Friday, May 15, at 7:00 p.m. with VIP tour at 6:30 p.m. at the Converse Memorial Building at the Malden Public Library. The top right corner of the graphic features the logos of the Malden Public Library, the Friends of the Malden Public Library, and Kappy’s.

Winter Updates ❄️

There were a lot of firsts! We started off the year with two book sales: our first mid-week sale in January and a Valentine’s Day sale. During our Valentine Day’s book sale we had a special guest: Senator Ed Markey. He demonstrated how folks can support by purchasing a couple of books.

For our Prison Book Program in Quincy, we donated nine boxes of books.

We had our pop-ups at the Emmanuel Baptist Church’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month events and the Chinese Cultural Connection’s Lunar New Year celebration. In collaboration with the Library, we also held our first Friends’ open house at the Converse gallery. The Library’s assistant director, Marita Coombs, gave a tour of our fabulous collection of art works. Check out pictures from the events below.

Image description: Two Friends talking to attendees, who are looking at the selection of books, at the Chinese Cultural Connection’s Lunar New Year celebration.

Image description: Malden Public Library’s assistant director, Marita Coombs, giving a tour of the Converse art gallery to attendees at the Friends’ open house.

Image description: Friends and open house attendees sitting at a table with water and snacks.

Upcoming Events

The next Friends meeting is tonight at 7 p.m. in the program room of the Malden Public Library. We will also finalize the dates for our Spring Book Sale soon! Stay tuned.

Below are some upcoming events:

March 15 (Sunday), 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Book Swap in partnership with Malden Pride Coalition at Cafe Reynard (89 Commercial Street, Malden)
May 15 (Friday), 7 - 9 p.m. with a 6:30 p.m. VIP gallery tour
Wine Tasting Gala at the Converse Memorial Building at the Malden Public Library (36 Salem St, Malden)

We hope to see you soon. Thank you for being a Friend!