Every year, the media center hosts a monthly book club. This year, the book club is working with some of the English teachers to host a Project Lit chapter for the book club.

“Well, actually, this year we’re collaborating with Ms.Emerson and Ms. Kauffman and they approached us with a project called Project Lit,” said Ms.Allen. This is a big change from last year. Project Lit has partnered with more than one thousand book clubs. Both Ms. Allen and Ms.Hodges hope to read all ten books by the end of the school year.

“Getting to know each other better,” Ms. Hodges said is one of the things she looks forward to in book club.
The two librarians are enthusiastic about a good start to book club.

“And I love to hear what the students have to say about the book, what insights they’ve gained and you know if they’ve made personal relations to the characters,” Ms. Allen adds.

There were so many books to choose from. Ms.Emerson, Ms.Kauffman, Ms.Allen and Ms.Hodges came together and picked books from the Project Lit recommendation list.

“This year is a little different, because it’s a project Lit collaboration so I think this year I would say that teachers and librarians chose the books, because we’re starting this Project Lit [chapter],” Ms. Hodges said.

This club, in a way, tries to encourage students to read and they have some advice to help others improve their reading. “By reading more, it sounds simple, but the more you read the better you get at reading,” said Ms.Allen.

“I’m a big proponent of unabridged audio books,” Ms.Hodges said, “if you really want to improve your reading comprehension, listen and read along,”

About twenty students have already enrolled from freshmen to seniors. They will be meeting up in the media center once a month, there will be snacks and refreshments and activities that go with the book. This year the book club has access to the WIN bus, for students who do not have a ride home.

Book club hopes to introduce new books to students and encourage discussions, but everyone still has their favorites.

“Yeah, you know mine is still Harry Potter,” Ms.Hodges said.

“Honestly, I don’t have a favorite book series,” Ms.Allen admits, “One of my favorite books is Same Different As Me.”

Tiffany Kudlinski, a twelfth grader, looks forward to making new friends.

Tiffany says her favorite book genre is romance. “The Princess Diaries” is her favorite book series. She enjoys the thought of reading new books in book club. At this point, she doesn’t know what her reading goal is quite yet.

“Yes, a lot of times students will come in here and they’re either applying for college or applying for a job and there’s that blank that says clubs and activities,” Ms.Allen said, “and they have nothing to write. Book club meets once a month and you know it doesn’t require a whole lot of time, we don’t charge dues and we’re lots of fun and it looks good to at least have something to fill in.”