September 14, 2001

Loyola Women Read!

_These days, it seems that everybody's joined a book group. . . whether it's a club sponsored by a big book store chain like Barnes & Noble, or just a group of friends who get together for a glass of wine and a literary chat, book clubs are big. A December 5, 1999, New York Times article reported that book groups were proliferating nationwide. Some credit Oprah Winfrey's on-air book discussions. Others believe Americans are searching for an intellectual outlet they can't easily find elsewhere.

The Women's Center and the Monroe Library are collaborating on the creation of a new women's book group, called Loyola Women Read!, that will meet one evening each month at the Women's Center to discuss literary works of interest to women. Books by women authors, concerning women's issues or about women characters will be eligible for discussion. The club will be open to any woman with a Loyola affiliationfaculty, staff, students, and alumni, as well as spouses, partners, and guests of all threeare encouraged to attend!

So that we can get a well-rounded reading list of interest to a wide variety of members, our first get-together will be a planning meeting. Attendees are encouraged to bring with them the titles of two books they would like to suggest for inclusion on the year's reading list. We'll briefly discuss each of the suggested books, and if necessary vote on the ones we'd like to read at subsequent meetings. The evening will be a fun way for members to get to know one another . . .wine and dessert will be served to help facilitate the discussion. Hopefully, we'll end up with selection of books that will be both entertaining and thought provoking. After we've selected our books, we'll make up our reading calendar for the year.

Our planning meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Women's Center, Room 103, Mercy Hall. Subsequent meetings will be held on the last Wednesday of each month. Loyola Women Read! will be a great way for Loyola women to connect and converse, while making new friends and exercising old brain cells!

For more information, contact 864-7136 or delnero@loyno.edu.

— Trish Del Nero, Outreach Librarian, Monroe Library