By Katie Broker
Checked Out
When I think back on the past year of book club meetings at the Hutchinson Public Library, I don’t immediately recall the books we’ve read. I remember the conversations. The laughter when discussing a character’s absurd choices, the quiet pauses and shared understanding when a paragraph about grief and regret landed differently for each person in the room, and the moments someone perfectly described a feeling we all shared but weren’t able to name.
Those exchanges reminded me that the impactful part of reading often begins after the last page is read. Book clubs are not just about the books. They are about the people who connect over them. Over the past year, I have seen our library’s book clubs become small but powerful communities within our larger one. They are spaces where curiosity, empathy, and connection thrive.
So, as I start to think about the new year, I find myself less interested in setting a reading goal or building a “to be read” list, and more excited to continue the conversations that have taught me so much about the complexity of our lives through the stories we share. When I began coordinating adult programs at the library, a book club seemed like the most obvious place to start. We already had one long-running group, the Mystery Mavens, but patrons often asked why we didn’t offer more.
What I didn’t expect was that coworkers were eager to join the effort. They weren’t just interested in reading, either; through our conversations, they shared their ideas with me and their passions for music, art, and film. My idea to start one more book club quickly changed, and we began to build something much bigger together. That collaboration sparked connections inside the library that soon extended into the community.
Our idea to start a few new book clubs became five thriving book clubs, and each became a place for people to connect with a common interest. Some gather to talk about fiction of all genres, others to explore art, music, or movie adaptations. The subjects vary, but the heart of each group is the same: people coming together to talk, listen, and see the world through new perspectives.
At first, I thought my role in this was strictly to facilitate, to prepare questions, offer literary analysis, and keep the discussion moving. But in the past year, I discovered that the most important thing I can do is listen and make space for the conversation to take its own direction. When we already share a common ground of having read the same book, we are freer to debate plot points, challenge assumptions, and explore ideas. That common ground makes space for curiosity and empathy, for seeing things in a way we might not have considered if someone else’s perspective hadn’t challenged our own.
There isn’t a specific way this is supposed to happen, and much like painting, you start with a form and watch the rest come to life during the process. Conversations are better that way, and we start to discover a connection with others through debate and shared experience that goes beyond whether we liked the book or not. Some of my favorite moments this year came from the unexpected directions our discussions took. When we read Natalie Sue’s “I Hope This Finds You Well,” we laughed at the main character’s habit of hiding rude notes in the white text of her emails. That quirk became a running joke in our own book club emails, though our hidden messages were kind rather than rude.
Other times, the tone shifted to something deeper. Samantha Sotto Yamboa’s “Water Moon” led us into conversations about loss, regret, and love. Each person brought their own experiences to the table, and together we explored how the novel’s haunting, magical world resonated differently for each of us. Those moments reminded me that stories are not static, and the meaning can change depending on who’s reading it.
Book clubs are not just library programs. They are spaces where people gather to laugh, be curious, and experience the nuances of life together. They remind us that stories are not always meant to be consumed in isolation but shared, discussed, and lived through conversation.
So, if you are looking for community, I invite you to attend a book club to see what it’s about. I’m most excited about the upcoming virtual author talk with Liz Moore, author of “The God of the Woods.” It’s a captivating mystery set in the Adirondacks with complex characters that made me feel both empathy and pure frustration at times. Check out the book either at the library or on CloudLibrary, and go to our website, hutchpl.org, to get in on the conversation with Liz Moore after the new year. I hope we see you there, and happy New Year!
Katie Broker is the adult programs coordinator at the Hutchinson Public Library. She can be reached at katie.b@hutchpl.org.