March 28, 2024

Books and Brews

Prairie City Library starts new adult book club

Image 1 of 3

Finding time to sit down and read a book or finding a new book among the stacks of already read periodicals can often be hard in day to day life. The Prairie City Public Library is hoping to help carve out some time, and enjoy a drink or two, at the Books and Brews book club.

“I had first read about a program like this a couple of years ago,” library director Sue Ponder said. “Library staffs across the country share ideas for programs and for things that work well for their libraries.”

After planning the program and receiving approval from the library board, Ponder set out to make the first meeting a reality. Held monthly, with the first gathering Jan. 8 at Stampede in downtown Prairie City, Ponder said her vision for the group would be to have people that aren’t necessarily friends outside of the book club, get together to share their love of reading and to share different opinions about the same book.

“The great thing about being a member of a book club is you find yourself reading books you may not have chosen yourself,” Ponder said. “You may not always like the book, but once you’ve read it and actually think about why you didn’t care for it, you can then talk about it with others.”

Libraries throughout the state share sets of multiple copies of books for book clubs to use, giving the group a list to start with. Ponder said she always encourages suggestions of titles from club members, as well.

While there was a good response on the Facebook page Ponder created for the club, it is always unknown what to expect for attendance at different events. For the first meeting, the group had more than 15 people ready to dig in to a good read.

“We were very pleased with 17 people attending the initial meeting Jan. 8,” Ponder said. “I think it went well. Everyone introduced themselves and then we just covered how we foresee the group going forward, how the books are acquired and made sure everyone was signed up for a library card. We also made sure to highlight some of the things the library has to offer our patrons.”

As with most groups, Ponder expects attendance to fluctuate with people’s schedules from month to month, but anyone interested is invited to join in. Among those at the first meeting, Audra Myers Hiebert said the club is giving her an opportunity to read more books outside of her normal niche.

“(It gives me) accountability to read more and the experience to read books outside of my normal reading genre,” Hiebert said. “Also, (it allows me) the chance to get to share with others over the book, hear their thoughts and sharing their perspective. Meeting new people and having a night out locally, not to mention it is a ‘free’ social option.”

The library also offers story time at 10 a.m. Wednesdays along with kids reading time to therapy dogs Marco Polo and Olivia from 4 to 5 p.m. For those with skilled or learning hands, the yarn therapy group meets at 7 p.m. Tuesdays for knitting and crocheting and many more special programs are being planned in the coming months.

The next meeting of Books and Brews is 7 p.m. Feb. 12 at Wilkie’s Garage, 116 E. Jefferson St. in Prairie City.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com