Seventy-Five Books and Counting

Thunder Bay Public Library Celebrates Book Club Milestone

Looking back on October, 2014: B.B. King held his last live performance, Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize, Taylor Swift released 1989, and 20 strangers gathered in the Community Program Room at the Mary J.L. Black Library for their first book club meeting. The book club became so popular it had to be expanded into two clubs to accommodate the availability of books. These book clubs have been meeting monthly ever since (minus some time lost due to COVID), and October 2021 marks the 75th book they have read and discussed together.

Two book clubs equals 150 books read, 150 meetings, and countless memorable interactions, conversations, and new friendships. The library staff member who originally started the clubs was happy to watch the clubs grow over the years (there’s always a waiting list to join), and was surprised to hear of the upcoming milestone. The book clubs had to transition from in-person meetings at the library to Zoom meetings over the last year, but that has not stopped many members from actively participating and staying connected.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be part of a book club for so long, Mary Lou Warren, one of the original members, says, “you become friends, concerned with each other’s lives” and it “takes you out of your comfort zone.” Some of the members have been there for all 75 books. Linda Hughdie describes the book club as a “sisterhood of readers” and filling in meeting dates is the first thing she does with a new calendar.

Have all the members loved all the books? “No!” says Tracey Gavin, one of the original 20. “But that is what a book club is all about. It offers up an opportunity to read something you might not have read otherwise, gives food for thought about a number of topics, and perhaps may lead you to your next great read.”

If you’re interested in starting your own book club, the Thunder

Bay Public Library offers a Book Club in a Bag service, available to anyone with a library card. It features 10 copies of the same title, and a set of questions for discussion as tools to host a book club. The titles offered by the service are popular and in demand. The collection currently has 224 titles, including many local authors such as Marianne Jones and Eleanor Albanese.

For more information email bookclub@tbpl.ca and begin your own book club journey.