Milton Public Library offers virtual programming for adults in January, 2021

To start off the New Year right, the Milton Public Library has a fun line-up of weekly programs to choose from in the month of January, which are all offered virtually via Zoom.   On Tuesday, 1/5/21, at 7 PM, world traveller Barry Pell returns to give a talk as part of our “Armchair Travel” series called “Iceland in Winter – A Journey Around the Country’s Ring Road.”  Iceland, an island nation in the North Atlantic, is about the size of Kentucky but with only 365,000 people.  It has captured the imagination since its settlement by the Vikings 1000 years ago to over two million annual visitors today.  The speaker drove the entire circumference during the challenging winter weather season, so please join him to see images of volcanoes, steaming hot springs and geysers, towering glaciers, black lava fields, and remote farms and churches, all dusted with snow and ice.  Add to this the wild reindeer herds, the hardy pony-sized Icelandic horses, and the surreal colors of the Northern Lights to make winter a very special time to see the country.  Advance signup is required.  

Then on Thursday, 1/7/21 at 7 PM, there will be another virtual meeting of the Celebrity Book Club with Sally Lawler and Sara Truog.  The book to be read in advance is The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai which was recommended by Seth Myers.  This work of fiction is a dazzling new novel which tells the story of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris.  Advance registration is required and to reserve a copy of the book, call the Reference Dept. at (617) 898-4964 or place a hold at our website catalog.  On Tuesday, 1/12/21, at 7 PM historian Sean Murphy returns with a program called “Brexit and the Implications for Ireland.”  The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union (EU) in June 2016 by a majority of 52 to 48 percent.  What followed was political chaos and eventually the UK left the EU on January 31, 2020.  This began a transition period that is set to end on 12/31/20.  Come learn more about this interesting political debacle and its effect on Ireland in particular.  Sean Murphy is originally from Dublin, and works as an Irish historian and Irish music and dance teacher, and he is affiliated with the Irish Cultural Center of New England in Canton, MA, as well as many other organizations on Cape Cod.  Advance registration is required for this program.

Library Director Will Adamczyk will host an event called “Let’s Talk About Books” on Wednesday, 1/13/21, at 7 PM via Zoom, and he wants to know what you’ve been reading that you loved, that you hated, and everything in between in this fun Zoom get-together!  Join him for an hour to bring people on board just to talk about books, and maybe make new friends too.  Will has some good suggestions for you, and you may sign up in advance at our website.  And – for those budding artists out there –  on Tuesday, 1/19/21, at 6 PM, painter Greg Maichack returns to the library online to teach a two-hour workshop called “Pastel Painting Workshop: The Miracle Flowers Inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe.”  This popular instructor will detail the steps involved in creating a beautiful drawing, but you will have to buy a few simple materials yourself to have on hand at home to participate.  The short list of pastel crayons and paper needed for this project are shown at the events list at our website (go to this link to see details:    https://tinyurl.com/y5h8u7xz).   Space in this enjoyable activity is limited, is suitable for adults and teens (not young children), and advance registration is required.  Please check out a great art program for adults this month!

The final event – which is suitable for the whole family – will be held on Tuesday, 1/26/21, at 7 PM via Zoom with speaker Marty Gitlin and it’s called “A Celebration of Animation for All Ages.”  Writer Gitlin will present a fun look at the world of animation, using film clips and other visuals.  An award-winning author and pop culture historian, he will talk about his book of the same name which has the subtitle: “The 100 Cartoon Characters in Television History” (c2018 and co-authored by Joseph Wos).  Marty is the only author to actually rank the greatest cartoon characters ever, such as Popeye, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Scooby Doo, Snoopy and SpongeBob SquarePants.  The speaker will show funny cartoon snippets of characters from the past century, play trivia with participants, discuss the criteria he used to rank the best of the best, and will speak about their impact on American pop culture.  Adults, teens, kids…this program is fun for everyone!  For more details about this enjoyable program, go to our website www.miltonlibrary.org and click on “events” from the main page, and then go to the date.  Here is a direct link also to register for any of these programs:  https://tinyurl.com/y5h8u7xz  Once signed up, a Zoom connection link will be Emailed to you. 

These online activities are kindly sponsored by the Friends of the Milton Public Library, are free and open to the public, and for questions Email [email protected] or call her at (617) 898-4964.