Milton Public Library releases January 2020 Adult Programs

Read on for more information about January’s new programs.

Starting in January, there are some enjoyable and educational programs happening for adults and families at the Milton Public Library.  Our ongoing Milton Knitting Group program will happen on Thursday, 1/2/20 at 7:00 p.m. and on Saturday, 1/18, 20 at 10:00 a.m., so please join others who love to knit for companionship and advice about your projects.  No signup is required and the meetings will be held in the lower level Conference Room.

Then on Tuesday, 1/14/20 at 7:00 p.m., presenter Sally Cragin will give a class called “Introduction to Tarot Card Reading.”  Sally has been reading the Tarot for years, and when she learned people are fascinated with the topic, she started giving talks about the meaning of the suits (pentacles or discs, swords, wands and cups) and the “Trump” or Major Arcana cards.  She uses the Ryder-Waite deck and you will learn all about the renaissance-era origins of them in this “hands-on” workshop, where no signup is required.  Please come and check out a fun and enjoyable talk with Sally, and if it snows, this event will happen instead on Tuesday, 1/28/20 at 7:00 p.m..  A resident of Fitchburg, MA, Sally Cragin is a freelance writer and speaks at many different venues, including libraries and schools.  She teaches classes on astrology, tarot card reading, palmistry, writing, several historical subjects, theater for children, recycling, and creating family memories and stories, as she is an instructor at Fitchburg State University.  Come learn more about your future as shown in the Tarot in this engaging program!

Then on Tuesday, 1/21/19, Milton novelist/essayist Kim McLarin talks about her book called Womanish: A Grown Black Woman Speaks on Life and Love (c2019).   Searing in its emotional honesty, this title is an essay collection by award-winning McLarin that explores what it means to be a black woman in today’s turbulent times.  Writing with candor, wit and vulnerability on topics including dating after divorce, depression, parenting older children, the Obamas, and the often fraught relations between white and black women, the author unveils herself at the crossroads of being black, female and middle-aged, and ultimately, American.  Ms. McLarin has received many awards for her non-fiction writing and is the author of the critically-acclaimed novels Taming It Down (c1999), Meeting of the Waters (2001), and Jump at the Sun (2006).  She has also co-authored the memoir Growing up X with Ilyasah Shabazz.  Jump at the Sun was also chosen as a 2008 Fiction Honor Book by the Massachusetts Center for the Book, and it was also nominated for a Hurston-Wright Legacy Award and selected by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association as a 2007 Fiction Honor Book.  Her writing has appeared in The New York Times (and is a former staff writer), Glamour, The Washington Post, Slate, The Root and more, and she has taught at Northeastern University and Fairfield University. Please join Ms. McLaren for an enlightening look at an important book.

Our monthly movies for adults are changing from Tuesday and Wednesday starting on 1/22/19, and the film to be shown is called “Puzzle” which stars Kelly MacDonald, Irrfan Khan and David Denman.   The movie will be shown promptly at 6:30 p.m.  Described as a “near-perfect movie” by The Playlist, the story is about Agnes who, after years of concerning herself exclusively with the needs and wants of her husband and sons, has found something she wants to do: puzzling.  Stepping out of her domestic bubble to pursue her new passion, Agnes meets Robert, a wealthy, reclusive inventor who recruits her as his partner for an upcoming world jigsaw tournament.  Each day she spends out in the world takes Agnes further along the road to a new understanding of herself.  This is a wonderful and heart-warming story, with a rating of R for language and the running time is 103 minutes.   And finally this month, the Cookbook Club with Connie Spiros and Sara Truog will meet on Monday, 1/27/20, at 6:30 p.m., this time in the Staff Room on the lower level.  Calling all cooks!  Each club meeting will feature a selected cookbook, and members will prepare a tasty treat from the book to bring to the Library and share.  The cookbook chosen for January is Vietnamese Food Any Day by Andrea Nguyen.  Registration is required as only those registered may attend, and please see our website for all the details regarding the meeting.  Space is limited and registration opens on Monday, 1/6/20.  Bon Appetit!

All of these programs are kindly sponsored by the Friends of the Milton Public Library, and are free and open to the public.  They will be held in the lower level Keys Community Room unless otherwise specified here and for more information, contact Jean Hlady, Head of Adult Services/Reference, at (617)-698-5757, x. 3 or go to: www.miltonlibrary.org.  Thanks for your time today to hear all about these fun events, and I hope you will come visit us in January!