Sharon Scanlan
On April 30, Queen Camilla was interviewed by Jenna Bush Hager on the Today Show. She started a charity during the pandemic in 2020 called The Queen’s Reading Room, an online book club, with the belief that “reading has the power to make life better.” https://thequeensreadingroom.co.uk/ The Queen’s Reading Room has now reached 180 countries, has a podcast and hosts world-class literary festivals.
SaddleBrooke is a community where there are dozens of book clubs. At the heart of this are the SaddleBrooke Community Libraries, a three branch private library system created specifically to serve residents’ leisure reading interests. The SaddleBrooke One Library, DesertView Library, and the Cholla Library at MountainView are an amenity of the HOAs and are one system with a shared online catalog of more than 10,000 books, CD audiobooks, and DVDs, supported by over 80 resident volunteers. These libraries do far more than lend books; they actively coordinate with book clubs, maintaining and updating a community wide list of club selections compiled quarterly from more than 20 different SaddleBrooke book clubs. Copies of this list are available at the SaddleBrooke One and DesertView libraries.
When book clubs submit their upcoming reading lists, the library buyers compare the choices against the collection, avoid withdrawing selected titles, and often purchase additional copies so that very popular discussion books are available to as many readers as possible. Special book club spine labels make it easy for both volunteers and patrons to find titles that are popular with local groups.
Book clubs flourish in many forms. Some are organized at the unit level, while others meet in community spaces or restaurants and welcome participants from across SaddleBrooke. Groups might favor historical fiction or literary bestsellers, while other clubs choose local authors, memoirs, or books tied to travel and genealogy, taking advantage of specialized collections at DesertView and SaddleBrooke One.
The libraries do not provide contacts for book clubs. Check with your Unit Representative to see if your unit has a book club. Several book clubs are open—two from Senior Village and the Tuesday morning book club. The contacts are:
Senior Village Novel Idea, Call Senior Village for information: 520-314-1042.
Senior Village Page Turners, Lynne Thompson: thomlynne@gmail.com.
Tuesday Morning Book Group, Carol P. Conway, carolconway8484@gmail.com. Meets September to May, second Tuesday at 10 a.m.
The Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries (FSL) provide the funding to purchase new books, DVDs and CD audiobooks for the SaddleBrooke Community Libraries. If you are not a member of FSL, learn more at their website: sbfsl.org. Your membership makes it possible to provide these Library resources for the enjoyment of everyone in our SaddleBrooke community. One of the many benefits, as an FSL member is that you will be emailed the new quarterly Book Club List when it is published quarterly.