The Okotoks Public Library is facilitating a book club at the Okotoks Youth Centre for grades 7 through 12.
Carey Gruber, Okotoks youth social development specialist, is helping to lead the book club.
“The town is looking at a number of ways to engage youth, and the idea for the book club came up so it could be a collaboration between the Town, the Okotoks Youth Centre and the library,” Gruber said. “Literacy is super important for all school aged kids to bring them and give them the best start into adulthood, and we’re also looking at is the social component.
“Engaging a group of kids who may not be involved in other activities and giving them an opportunity to do something together that they are passionate about, like reading.”
The first book club meeting took place on Jan. 11, with a showing of 10 youths between grades 7 and 11.
“Given the response, I think it’s something we will continue to do on an on-going basis, hopefully even year round,” said Gruber.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, strong reading skills are not only a foundation for achievement in other subject areas within the educational system, but are also a prerequisite for successful participation in most areas of adult life.
The Program for International Student Assessment 2009 published by Stats Canada showed that Canadian students continued to perform well in 2009 in a global context, outperformed by only four countries.
While reading performance decreased in Alberta between 2000 and 2009, performance remained above the average of other countries participating in the OECD. As published in the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program 2016 report, Canada continues to perform well in reading, with close to 90 per cent of Canadian Grade 8 students reaching at least baseline proficiency.
All self-described bookworms, the social aspect of the book club was a big draw for the youths.
“I’ve always had a passion for books and I thought that sharing that experience with other people would be really enjoyable and it would make the book 100 times better,” said Gabi Provost, Grade 9. “Sharing books with friends I feel like I can connect with them more, and it’s a good way to make new friends.”
For others, reading books in a group was a way to connect more with the books.
“I really like books, and figured a book club would be fun. Reading it all together would be fun, and maybe they might catch something I don’t and just make it a better experience,” said McKenna Kehoe, Grade 7.
“I feel like most people now would rather be on their phones or devices, playing games or texting, but I don’t feel like you can get the same thing as you would from reading. With reading, you can imagine the picture in your head and make it yours, and YouTube just does that for you,” said Kehoe.
While books clubs offer many benefits such as social skills and gaining new perspectives, Lindsey Budd, Okotoks Public Library team librarian, wanted more for the youths.
“For me reading has always been about expanding my mind, whether I agree with what I’m reading or not,” Budd said. “I’m hoping they learn some new things, or get interested in a new type of book, or find something they didn’t know they liked. Or learn that they don’t like something at all, which is also an important lesson to learn.
“Reading is so important, and it doesn’t matter what you read, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, graphic novels, manga, anything. It opens you up to new ideas.”
In time, Budd would like for the youths to pick books for themselves that interest them for the Book Club, but said for the first few weeks she will provide a selection for them to choose from.
Book club meetings are Friday evenings from 4:00-5:00pm in the lower level of the Recreation Centre. It is free to join and includes a 3-month family membership to the Okotoks Public Library. Snacks will be provided.
Families can register online, and can join at a later date.
