Alternate realities, fantastical adventures, captivating romance, bitter revenge, heart-wrenching betrayal –all from the security of the library. For some students, the library is just a place to get books for English class or print assignments, but for other students, the library offers a place to kindle the love of books, and now students have a place to share that love in Book Club.

Book Club met for the first time Tuesday, Feb. 19. The club will meet Wednesday, March 6 in the back of the library during both lunches.

Head librarian and Book Club host Cenee Precure said the goal of Book Club is to foster an environment of discussion around books.

“In the past, we offered meetings during both lunches so students would have the option to come in during lunch,” Precure said. “They were allowed to eat their lunch in the back of the library and we provided cookies so they would feel like they were in an open, comforting environment.”

Precure said she plans to promote the open environment.

“We are trying to continue holding Book Club during both lunches so there are two small groups to have in-depth discussions with,” Precure said. “It will allow students to feel more comfortable by talking to fewer people and opening the door to deeper conversations.”

Precure said she wants Book Club to encourage interaction between peers and discussion about literature.

“We will open up the meetings then let the book club members form their conversations,” Precure said. “For the first meeting we are planning on covering the first four chapters. The discussion really just depends on how far everyone is in the book. The discussions will be student led and form themselves around the questions and dialogue raised during the meetings. We want to hopefully start a discussion, especially between students who have different viewpoints. We also want to expose students to genres and books they wouldn’t choose to read on their own.”

Members voted for the February Book Club book, “The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler,” through a poll on Google Classroom. Students can join the Classroom using the code “0mulocs.”

“We wanted the students to get to decide, so we made a poll on the Classroom to narrow down the choices,” Precure said. “Some people had mentioned they liked nonfiction so we let the kids who were showing interest in book club decide.We hope to have more people to help choose the next book. We will probably post another poll for students who already joined the Classroom. We will definitely take members’ feedback into consideration, but I think we will read something more fantasy or science-fiction to broaden the range. We are already looking at books right now.”

Sophomore Monica Houseal attended the first Book Club meeting.

“We talked mostly about major parts in the book and relating them to our life and connecting them to other books,” Houseal said. “The conversation was mainly chatter but through each individual member we had deeper conversations about the book.”

Houseal said the book was intriguing and has inspired her to discuss literature with other members.

“It really got us talking,” Houseal said. “It was great because everyone had something interesting to say even though we were shy at first. The book we read really provides a special twist and surprising details over a topic that many people think they already know about. It is nonfiction and a graphic novel. It is a quick read and is a good first book to start discussions with.”

Houseal said she hopes more people will open up in the next meeting and have deeper discussions.

“Book Club has definitely encouraged me to read and talk about the books I have read,” Houseal said. “It has introduced me to new genres of literature that I didn’t expect I’d ever be interested in. Now that I’ve had a proper welcoming to these new topics, I would love to explore more books to chat about with other people.”