The Silent Book Club launched in 2015. Since then, it has grown from a small idea among friends to a global movement of more than 1 million members and 2,000 chapters in 60+ countries.
To celebrate its first decade, the Silent Book Club published a feature about the 10 longest-running chapters — and one of them was mine. Or, more accurately, the one I launched in Manchester, N.H. The article included an excerpt of an interview I did. Here’s the full account:
“The Silent Book Club chapter in Manchester, N.H., launched on Sept. 6, 2017. I was new to town, and loved the concept. When I noticed there wasn’t a single SBC chapter in the entire state, I decided to start one. I created the Facebook page, booked a table at the local Barnes & Noble and hoped people would show. About six people did, and nearly all of them continue to do so to this day.
“As the Silent Book Club has grown in popularity worldwide, so has our chapter. What started as an initial gathering of eight people (my husband and I, along with six strangers) has blossomed into an online community of over 860 members. Seven other chapters have popped up in the state as well, which thrills me to no end.
“The Manchester, N.H., chapter met at the Barnes & Noble twice a month until the pandemic. At that point, we switched to virtual meetings with the occasional in-person gathering (when it was safe to do so). We’ve continued to meet online so that members who are disabled, immunocompromised, elderly, limited by transportation options or have moved away can remain a part of the group. It’s also proved useful during New England’s winter storms. Why risk going out in the snow and ice when you can stay home by the fire with a book and a cuppa and still connect with your reader friends?
“That said, we held an in-person book swap in May and have another planned this fall; all leftover books were then donated to Little Free Libraries. At the invitation of the Currier Museum of Art, we convened for a special night reading in the museum’s cafe in August. For several years, our chapter also joined forces with the city library to rescue unread books. One of the librarians created lists of fiction and nonfiction books that were about to be culled because they had not been checked out for a few years. Then, members of our group borrowed the titles from these lists and “saved” hundreds of them from being removed from the library’s shelves.
“Thankfully, the core members of our chapter — the ones who show up for nearly every meeting — has remained at a manageable 12. In the years since the group’s formation, these people have become some of my dearest friends. We swap presents during the holidays (books, of course), occasionally meet up for tea, share funny jokes/memes in a private chat and help each other when life becomes unmanageable.”
