The following article was written by Kristin Keck, a Teen Associate at the Manitowoc Public Library.
The American Library Association (ALA) says that a public library should have 5,000 items in their collection, but that number isn’t set in stone. There is a suggestion that to be considered a library, a collection must have between 500 books and 1,000. If we go with the 500 number, I have roughly two and a fourth libraries in my house. I don’t think it will surprise anybody that I love books, given where I work (Manitowoc Public Library) and where I have worked (Mid-Continent Public Library, Borders, Waldenbooks).
I’ve been collecting books forever. I’ve got weird rare books—a complete set of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” novels from the early-1960s and almost all of the “Doctor Who” original novelizations. I’ve got books from my childhood—Susan Cooper and Walter Farley and C. S. Lewis. I’ve got things that only a word nerd would love, like the Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and James Lipton’s An Exaltation of Larks. And then, there are the comic books. I love talking about books—the trends of the industry, specific characters, whatever. I just love books.
You know what I don’t like? Book groups.
I don’t like having to read something that someone else picked. I’ve got enough books on my own TBR (To Be Read) list. That list is up to about three thousand—almost an ALA library in and of itself, and that number is always climbing. I’m never going to get through half of it, which is absolutely okay. I’d rather run out of time than run out of books.
Also, I’m an introvert. Introducing myself to a room of people I don’t know is scary. I don’t like being put on the spot and asked to talk. It always takes a minute for me to gather my thoughts and, by the time I’m ready to speak, the conversation has moved on.
So, I’m going to start a book group for the Teens right here at Manitowoc Public Library. I know. I was surprised, too. But, I do love talking about books and I thought there might be other introverts out there wanting to tell someone about their latest find without having that find be predetermined by someone else.
It’s going to be a different kind of book group. For one thing, we’re not going to have any assigned reading. We’re going to talk about books—what we’ve read, what we’d like to read, other media based on books, anything like that. I think it’s more interesting if everyone comes in with something they love instead of being forced into something that they’d rather not do.
Every third Thursday of the month, we’ll meet in the Franklin Street Room. I’ll pull some of the new titles from Young Adult to have at-the-ready, and also a selection of books in a genre for consideration. There will be snacks, naturally.
I’m calling the group Shelf Conscious, mainly because I love a pun. There’s no registration, so show up at 6 PM on that third Thursday (this month, that’s August 15) and we’ll talk about the books we love and roast the ones we don’t like. We’ll talk about the movies based on books we’ve read. We’ll just talk books, generally and specifically, and have a good time doing it.
Because, at MPL, it’s perfectly fine for Teens to be Shelf Conscious!