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Clarendon Hills book groups offer discussions for readers
Dorothy Ford of Clarendon Hills talks about one of the characters in Olive Ann Burns' book "Cold Sassy Tree" during the book club meeting at the Clarendon Hills Library. | Steve Johnston~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: September 21, 2012 5:10PM
CLARENDON HILLS — Kay Rubin’s reasons for being involved with two book clubs at the Clarendon Hills Public Library couldn’t be simpler.
“I like to read, and I like to talk about what I read,” said the 30-year resident of the village.
Rubin joined the Kay Carlson Book Group in 1993 and the Thursday Night Readers when about 10 years ago. Those two book discussion groups are among the three that meet at the library, 7 N. Prospect Ave. The third such group is The Game’s Afoot Mystery Group.
The Kay Carlson Book Group meets at 10 a.m. on the first Wednesday of each month, October-May; Thursday Night Readers get together at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month; and The Game’s Afoot Mystery Group meets at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month, except in December.
“You almost always have a need to talk to other people about the characters in a book that you’ve read,” said Kathy Strange, a reference librarian who also leads the Thursday Night Readers. “Being involved with a book group forces people to read something they might not otherwise pick up on their own.”
Rubin said she enjoys the discussions.
“It’s interesting to hear what other people have to say, and often our best discussions take place when someone in the group doesn’t like a book we’ve read,” she said.
Along with the three book discussion groups that meet at the library, there are about a dozen other such clubs that meet in Clarendon Hills, including the longstanding Circle of Voices group at Community Church of Clarendon Hills.
“The neighborhood groups started getting more popular again about 5-6 years ago,” Strange said. “I think a lot of it had to do with Oprah’s Book Club; that was a huge influence on people.”
Strange said most book discussion group participants are women, although the Thursday Night Readers do have one man.
The library offers assistance to the book discussion groups that meet both in its building and around the community.
Book discussion groups that want multiple copies of titles made available for participants may contact Strange, who uses an interlibrary loan system to get enough copies. The library provides shelf space for book groups
For more information, call the library, 630-323-8188 or email info@clarendonhillslibrary.org.
