If you’re looking for a new good book to read and don’t know where to look, check out KSC’s book club.
The Office of Student Diversity, Belonging, and Equity (OSDBE) and the Center for Research & Writing hold a student book club on campus in the writing center on the first Monday of every month from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The event’s OwlNet page reads, “This event is low commitment: Join us whether you’ve read just one page or a book from cover to cover.”
Evan Parker, head tutor at the Center for Research & Writing and junior, said, “It started this year and it used to be everyone reading the same book every month. But because that is not accessible to all students, they changed it so that it is theme-based every month and you can read whatever book you want if it fits the theme and then we talk about central themes or topics.”
“It is partly Ian Kaplan [coordinator of LGBTQ student support] and Emily Alexander [senior coordinator of student involvement and well-being] who lead with questions if they need to, but a lot of it is talking about the books themselves. We usually end up talking about the social issues that the books discuss but it can be anything,” continued Parker.
In an email statement to The Equinox, Nina Zienkiewicz, student development program assistant at the OSDBE, stated, “Everyone is encouraged to come. Themes change each month, so they’ll either all read the same text or all read different books that follow a main theme. April’s theme was ‘Novels in Verse’ for National Poetry Month. The meeting counts for 1 Hootie’s Spirit Point. Complimentary crafts and snacks are included.”
When asked about where to find updates on book club meetings, Assistant Director for the Center for Research & Writing Molly Parsons said, “I am pretty confident [Kaplan] regularly updates the social media so follow @kscosdbe and our social media too, @center4research_and_writing.”
Parsons said there are about four or five attendees who consistently participate in the book club. She described these attendees as enthusiastic readers and added the Center for Research & Writing staff loves celebrating reading on campus by providing the space for the club to meet.
Parsons also added, “Often [Kaplan] has a really fun activity to go along with whatever it is, the theme is that month. I remember one of the first books was ‘What Stalks Among Us,’ by Sarah Hollowell and [Kaplan] brought materials so that everyone could make their own corn maze doodle while they were discussing, and there are always snacks to make it welcoming and fun.”
A few of the themes that the book club has done have been robots/sci-fi, anything related to women for Women’s History Month and novels written in verse for Poetry Month. There is a spreadsheet of book recommendations that relate to the theme as well, and the club decides on the theme consensus.
Ali Barretta can be contacted at
