Book Club Experience

 I hardly have any book club experience, so I was unsure of what to expect when I arrived at the Greenwood Public Library and attended their Primetime Book Club. The club meets on the first Tuesday of every month, with Executive Director Cheryl Dobbs leading the group. I was the second person to arrive in the board room, which is a room almost entirely encased in glass walls with adjoining administrative offices and a private bathroom. While there were no snacks available, the conversations were so lively that no one would have had time to finish their food. The rest of the group soon joined. Before the starting time of six-thirty, a few of the ladies took out their personal books and exchanged them with each other as a casual session of readers’ advisory. It was clear to me rather quickly that all of them are very avid readers. By six-thirty, Cheryl had everyone introduce themselves so I could get to know them. During the introductions, I learned that a few of the ladies had been attending the club since before I was born, or soon after it. The club has been a GPL staple for decades and I was very intrigued and thrilled to learn that the club has such loyal members who have become great friends since. 

When Cheryl began the discussion– for Tom Lake by Ann Patchett– the questions began as simple ones (“What did you think?” “Do you have any favorite parts? Quotes?”), the questions became deeper and more thoughtful. Cheryl asked all the questions, but often the discussion of the questions led Cheryl to ask other questions. It was an incredibly fun time; many moments, the discussion would go off the rails a bit with multiple side conversations happening at the same time, but never for long. All of the ladies, including Cheryl, gave their opinions on almost every question. A couple of them spoke more than the others, but all the members took care to give everyone a turn and listen to their contributions. They even allowed me to interject on some questions, even though I had made them all aware beforehand that I was simply an observer for a class assignment.

At the end of the meeting, which came all too quickly and quite organically, the members all discussed what book they would read next. They all agreed to read Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, but decided they could not make their April meeting because so many members would be on vacation. So, they agreed to read Crying in H Mart for April, have Cheryl assign them a reading for May, and talk about both at the next meeting. After they finished business, one of the members invited one of the other librarians in to talk about her program: Book Talk. The program gives people the option to read one or more of five chosen books centered around a genre. The night is filled with casual conversations, crafting, and snacking. It sounded very interesting to me, and I was interested in two of the books on the list, so I decided that I’d attend the next meeting! 

Overall, my experience with the book club was a very fun one. I have never attended such a lively, friendly, and fun discussion, and all the ladies were very welcoming and enthusiastic about the book club and reading in general. Cheryl is a fantastic book club leader, which makes sense as she has been leading this one for over seventeen years. They’re a tight-knit group of ladies while still welcoming new members with great joy. They invited me to continue to attend their meetings, and when I told them that I hardly had any time to read with my classes, they told me: “We don’t care! Just come talk with us!” 

So, I believe I will.