New adult programming co-ordinator Roxy Blackmore has created a new talking book club for the Estevan Public Library, and it will open to people of all ages.
People who enjoy books or have trouble reading are encouraged to come out and listen to a book as a part of Blackmore’s new club. The book she has picked for the first meeting is The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks and she hopes to have some open discussion about the book after the club.
“The audio book club is for people who might have trouble reading, seeing or just want to be in a club and enjoy storytelling,” said Blackmore. “There are a lot of people that have trouble reading or might not have ever able to read and I want to help those people.”
The club is also designed to help the visually impaired or others with a possible disability that prevents from reading.
“Dyslexia can be a challenge for people from any age, so we are looking for people who like to read or like to listen to books, or have an appreciation for literacy and for whatever reason are unable to do so,” said Blackmore. “There is no judging in this and we can all appreciate reading without having to single people out.”
Book clubs for Blackmore can also be a social gathering for debate and also for people who may be new to the area.
“There are great social forum book clubs that provide great opportunities to meet and befriend new people, so this could be for newcomers as well,” said Blackmore. “It’s for people from all walks of life and it provides a wonderful addition to a social calendar.”
Hearing a book instead of reading it is a relatively new concept, and Blackmore said it can allow people to use their imagination and the book can almost come alive.
“Imaginations have no limit with a club like this, and like any other book club we will be discussing what we read afterwards,” said Blackmore.
Blackmore said clubs are a great place to introduce new books that people may not have otherwise known existed.
She noted that the club, at its core, is about that very thing by getting people to read new books, getting excited about literacy, and becoming more educated.
“Friendly debates and discussing what other people thought about the book, it’s a great learning experience as well,” said Blackmore. “I think everyone there will have opinions about what kind of book they like and what they thought of the book that was picked and I am sure it is going to be very interesting.”
The first meeting of the talking book club was slated for March 5, but it was cancelled due to the snowstorm that struck southeast Saskatchewan. The next session is slated for March 19 at 1:30 p.m. at the library.
