This month, Next Chapter Book Club is coming to Reed Memorial Library! This book club is created for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Keep reading this post to learn about this exciting new program and what to expect at our monthly meetings.

Next Chapter Book Club is a brand new book club coming to the library this month. The first meeting is Saturday, March 18 from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm, and the club will meet once a month.

The book club is coordinated and led by Librarian Anne. “I was interested in starting Next Chapter Book Club because I want patrons with IDD to know that we have events here at the library that are created with them in mind,” Anne explains. “We love having them at any of our events, but everyone deserves to feel as though the library is for them.”

So what can you expect for Next Chapter Book Club? Here are Anne’s answers to some of our questions.

What is Next Chapter Book Club?

“Next Chapter Book Club is a book discussion group for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to read, learn and make friends in a relaxed, community setting.”

How will the book club work?

“Anyone who wants to join will have to register on our website and fill out a short form so that we can get an idea of what kinds of books everyone likes, some health and safety information like allergies, and an emergency contact just in case. The actual program will meet once a month on Saturday. We will read for half an hour and anyone who feels comfortable can take a turn reading out loud for up to one page (but probably a paragraph or two) before we move on to the next person. You don’t have to be amazing at it; I often stutter or stumble over words, but reading out loud is great for confidence, learning new words, pacing of reading, and many more skills. After that half an hour we’ll take a break and play games or do crafts. If anyone wants to check out their book to continue reading it at home, they can do that after the event at the Public Services desk. They’ll have until the next meeting to finish that book. Some examples of books we might select from are: The Babysitter’s Club, Graphic Novels, Nancy Drew, Dr. Seuss.”

Who is the book club for?

“Any adult with an Intellectual or developmental disability can participate. It doesn’t matter what your reading level is because we select books that will meet everyone in the middle. Sometimes a book might be for a younger audience than you’re used to reading and sometimes it might be for a slightly older audience but we’ll take it slow and there’s no pressure to read out loud if you’re not comfortable. You can just listen to the story and follow along at your own pace.”

What sort of activities can participants expect?

“You can expect to do crafts, play with LEGO, play Bingo and board games, and more! I love suggestions from patrons so if there’s something that you would like us to do at the next meeting, let me know and we’ll see what we can do.”

The first pick for Next Chapter Book Club is Museum Mysteries, and participants will be able to choose what book to read next.

To browse the official site for Next Chapter Book Club’s organization visit www.nextchapterbookclub.org.

To view the first Next Chapter Book Club meeting on our library event page, visit here.