On any given Tuesday, after school, those who scan into the library will come across a room in the back, next to the graphic novels section. Sitting inside this room, a small group of people read books, do homework, check their phones, and chat with each other. This is Reading Club, perhaps one of Niles North’s most understated extracurricular activities. Originally known as Book Club, the group changed its name, since its focus is on individuals reading books in each other’s company, rather than all reading and discussing the same book.
Reading Club is unique among Niles North’s extracurricular organizations for its largely unstructured format. Anyone can show up at a meeting to talk to other members or read a book. The only real rule of Reading Club is that attendees must read for at least half of the meeting.
“I would tell [people] that it is a very relaxed club,” Reading Club sponsor Caitlin Greener said. “We are here to just share books and to read together. It’s a great club for introverts.”
Senior Sophia Jones-Papanastassiou has been part of Reading Club for her entire high school career.
“What I like about Reading Club is, not only [do] a lot of people…love to read books, but a lot of people also like to write or be creative in various ways.” Jones-Papanastassiou said. “I think it’s so interesting to hear, from writers, what they think of books.
According to Jones-Papanastassiou, the literary tastes from members of Reading Club can range from realistic fiction to graphic novels—Jones herself enjoys reading nonfiction and manga, “although it would be good for me to be exposed to some new things.” Some people have surprised her: “You thought that person would be the last person to like it, but [it] turns out to be the opposite.”
“My favorite thing is getting to know students in a different way,” Greener reveals. “I get to know their personal lives and get to see them kind of grapple with things, in school and outside of school, and talk about issues that are really important to them. [I can] kind of see the world through their eyes a little bit.”
This insight allows Greener to better understand what students need in her capacity as a librarian.
Reading Club provides a space for students to talk to each other about whatever is on their minds, however ridiculous. “I enjoy Reading Club because I like the conversations we have,” said an anonymous junior and club member. “It’s either something very stupid, or something very philosophical, or something very abstract. The possibilities of the conversation [are] endless in here.”
The junior added, “We also talk about our favorite books, and I always find interesting suggestions, and sometimes I actually find books that I really like, so that’s fun.”
As the year continues, this junior’s hopes revolve more around the creativity and love of writing present in many club members. “I’m pretty content with Reading Club as is, but maybe we can share story suggestions, or stuff we can write just to get us started. I know we did that at some point during the past, but maybe we can start again…everyone gives each other writing prompts, and we can start writing.”
Greener has her own plans for Reading Club: “I would love for us to go on a field trip this year.” Where to? “Wherever people wanna go. To the library—the public library—or even, I don’t know, a big library, like the Newberry Library downtown.”
