Friends Support Variety of Reading Groups
"Staggering...overwhelming...breathtaking... awe-inspiring" are hardly adequate to characterize the numbers of new books published each year in the U.S. In 2006, 292,000 titles crowded into the marketplace. Nearly 15 percent of those, or 42,000, were works of fiction. That is some 117 new titles a day, or almost four new novels or stories every hour!The Friends promote reading and critical discussion for middle schoolers to elders. That support includes providing multiple copies of books for participants at the library and funding on-line groups.
Friends Reading Group
Meeting every two months, participants choose the books, nearly all of which are fiction. Selections have ranged from the depression-era classic, "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck to Robert Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" and Anchua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart", a novel set in Africa that focuses on the clash of ancient tribal traditions and Christian colonialism.
Great Big Book Club
In 2009 a group of 25 enthusiastically took on Leo Tolstoy's 1000+-page "War and Peace". It was decided to meet four times because of the novel's great breadth. The enthusiasm did not flag and in response, the Friends are now supporting the twice-a-year Great Big Book Club.
Fall of 2009 brought us to "Middlemarch" followed in Spring of 2010 by the Herman Melville epic novel Moby Dick. Many have paced the reading of these lengthy novels over the two-month period that we meet. Learn more about the current selection and schedule through links on the Friends website, www.ftpml.org.
Senior Reading Group
Sponsored by the city's Recreation Department, the group began in 2007 with a talk by Naomi M. Forester, author of "Cat in My New Christmas Hat". Subsequent books have included Sara Gruen's "Water for Elephants" and Kiran Desai's "Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard", reported coordinator Paula Lisowski. For more information, contact Ms. Lisowski at 301-891-7260 or PaulaL@takomagov.org.
Banned Book Clubs
In July of 2008, at the first meeting of the Banned Book Club, librarian Karen MacPherson posed a question to a group of middle school students. "Do you dare disturb the universe?" This quote from "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier, garnered an immediate response from the group of seven young readers and the Banned Book Club was under way. For information about participating, call 301-891-7259.
The club was awarded the Immorth Award for Intellectual Freedom by the American Library Association in 2009. The club was further honored that year when state Senator Jamie Raskin presented a Maryland commendation for starting the club to librarian Karen MacPherson and student Alanna Natanson.
In 2010, Karen and Alanna created a Junior Banned Books Club, for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. The Friends of the Library provides funding for multiple copies of the books for both clubs.
OnLine Book Clubs
Register at www.takomapark.info/library — fiction, nonfiction, audio. For each, a five-minute piece of a book is delivered via e-mail each day for a week; after five days, readers will have received one or two chapters, which should be enough to decide whether to continue with the book. The next week another book starts. There is also a Teen Online Book Club including mysteries, comedies, true adventures, mystical science fiction. Each week, different guest teenagers share their insights.
Favorite Poem Evening
Favorite Poems are read by residents in April, Poetry Month. Poems range from the serious to the comic, the seriously comic, traditionally rhymed and not. Read a favorite poem with the requirements that it is a published poem and not written by the reader. More at 301-891-7259 or Favorite Poem Evening.
