Greetings Friends! We are closing out another busy year, this is a reminder to pay your annual membership dues. You can pay dues by

• Mailing your dues to The Friends of the Malden Public Library, 36 Salem Street, Malden, MA 02148

• Dropping it off with a Membership form filled out with your information at the front desk of the Malden Public Library (you can get a Membership form at the Library)

If you have any questions, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

FAQs

How much is the membership due?

• Individual - $15

• Seniors and students - $10

• Family - $30

• Lifetime- $500

What forms of dues do you accept?

We currently accept dues in the form of cash and checks. We do not have a set-up for virtual payment yet.

If you are paying by check, please make it out to The Friends of the Malden Public Library.

What do my membership dues pay for?

The Friends view our membership dues as donations to the Malden Public Library so that they can continue to host the Library’s diverse and enriching programming.

Your membership dues also gives you access to members-only events, such as members-only book sales.

I joined after January, why do I have to renew at the beginning of the year instead of when I joined?

Starting in 2024, we moved from a rolling membership year to a calendar membership year, running from January to December. This means our membership campaign will always be in January and the membership dues cover until December.

This decision was made because the Friends of the Malden Public Library is run by unpaid volunteers. In order to simplify our work so that we can focus on supporting the Library, we set everyone’s membership to renew at the same time, at start of the calendar, regardless of when you joined and do not prorate if you joined after January.

What happens if I don’t pay my membership due?

You will still receive updates from the Friends. However, if you want to attend members-only events such as members-only book sales, you will be asked to pay your membership due then. Please remember that the dues is one of our principal means of income, permitting us to function as the Library’s non-profit, fundraising arm.

How can I be more involved with the Friends?

Come to our monthly meeting on the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Library. This will give you excellent insight regarding our activities, committees, diversity, and the FUN we have doing it all!

Updates and December Events

At the December Friends meeting, we elected a new board for the new year. See below for the 2026 Friends of the Malden Public Library board.

• President Huy Nguyen

• Vice President Melissa LaPlant

• Treasurer Marion Browning

• Recording Secretary Glynn Crumm

• External Relations Secretary Mary Ellen O’Meara

This year’s Annual Holiday Concert, in partnership with the Malden Historical Society, featured local musicians from the Mystic Side Opera Company. The Mystic Side Opera Company gave an impressive performance of opera classics, such as Carmen and Tosca, in the scenic Ryder Gallery within the Malden Public Library. Afterwards the Friends provided snacks and refreshments.

This year we held annual Winter Holiday Book Sale. We curated displays with books as potential gifts for the holidays, including gift-wrapped “Blind Dates with a Book”. There was free gift-wrapping and patrons could also buy coffee from the Traveling Acoffeecary from the van parked just outside the Library. Many thanks to those who came by, we raised over $2,200!

We also joined Malden Reads at Malden City Hall for Winter Wonders. We handed out winter holiday books and read books in different languages to attendees.

Next Year

The next Friends meeting is on January 6. As a reminder, the Friends meet every first Tuesday of each month on the second floor of the Malden Public Library at 7:00 p.m. We hope to see you at the next meeting!

Thanks to the Friends who joined in 2025! With each new Friend comes fresh new ideas, like the "Blind Date with a Book" display at our book sales, and expanded capacity and skills, like cleaning up our World Languages section and adding more book cases to the book room.

The Friends take great pride in supporting our Malden Public Library so that they can continue hosting their enriching programs and serving our diverse community. Thanks to the Library, you can learn how to style synthetic braiding hair, get free museum tickets, and attend a family movie night. Not to mention, expand your imagination on what a better world could look like by borrowing and reading the Library's books. The more we support the Malden Public Library, the stronger a community we’re building in Malden.

Stay tuned for more events and surprises in 2026 as our organization grows and develops! We are working on approving our 2026 Events calendar and will post it on social media and at the Library once it’s final. Thank you for being a Friend and we look forward to growing alongside you next year!