Library
starts monthly book club
By:
JESSICA SINGLETON
One of
the joys of reading is sharing the experience.
The Owen County Public Library is starting a book club that will
allow people to gather and share their opinions of the selected
novel. The charter meeting will be held at noon on Friday at the
library. Library Director Jennifer Nippert will lead the discussion.
She said she ran a club when she was a bookstore manager.
“As a library, it is important to encourage the idea of
a book club,” she said.
Nippert picked “How Reading Changed My Life” by Anna
Quinlan as the first selection. She said Quinlan’s book
is a collection of essays about novels and characters that changed
the author’s life.
“It is very inspiring,” she said. “This book
is a good springboard to discuss what people have enjoyed in the
past and what they want to read in the future.”
Charter members will receive a free copy of “How Reading
Changed My Life.” Those who are interested in joining should
pick up a copy at the library before Friday. Nippert describes
the book as an easy read, so anyone who joins at the last minute
will still be able to participate in the discussion.
The first meeting will also be used to choose novels for the next
six months. She said the selections will mostly be newly-released
fiction, although it will depend on what members enjoy reading.
The book selection is not the only part of the club that will
be flexible. The time the group meets could vary to fit the participants’
needs. She said she chose noon so people could come during their
lunch hour. If a lot of people are interested, she will consider
a spin-off group that would gather in the evening.
Participants will have the flexibility of a member-driven group
and will also have the advantages of being library sponsored.
Nippert will be incorporating several of the library’s resources
to help the club. The library is a member of the interlibrary
loan network. She can use this network to get book club kits from
other libraries on the same network. These kits contain multiple
copies of popular books. Those with a library card can borrow
these copies like regular library books, reducing the need to
buy multiple copies.
In addition to the book kits, she is also hoping to use discussion
guides. She said many publishers are realizing the popularity
of book clubs and are putting discussion guides in the back of
their books. Many guides are also available on-line.
Anna Quinlan is an award-winning author and is represented by
the publisher Random House. According to the Random House Web
site, Quinlan is the author of many books including four novels,
“Blessings, Black and Blue,” “One True Thing”
and “Object Lessons;” four non-fiction books, “A
Short Guide to a Happy Life,” “Living Out Loud,”
“Thinking Out Loud,” and the book club selection,
“How Reading Changed My Life;” two children’s
books, “The Tree That Came to Stay” and “Happily
Ever After.” Her New York Times column, “Public and
Private” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 and her column now
appears every other week in “Newsweek” magazine.
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