01|09|02



Readers Services Librarian Andrew Smith browses through a copy of Corelli's Mandolin, one of the titles offered through the new "Gab Bag" program.

New "GAB BAGS" Program Brings Books to Reading Groups

A new program at the Williamsburg Regional Library is making multiple copies of popular and literary fiction available to area reading groups.  "Gab Bags" are prepackaged totes containing between 6 and 10 copies of works that lend themselves to the type of in-depth discussion that has popularized book groups from Oprah down to local neighborhoods.  The books were originally purchased through a grant made by Friends of the Library to provide materials to library-sponsored discussion groups.

"This is a great use of these books," says Andrew Smith, Readers Services Librarian.  "Our discussion groups read and enjoyed them, and we can now share them with other folks interested in books.  It's also an opportunity for the library to talk with book group members to find out how we can meet their other needs."

The bags can be checked out for 6 weeks, which is double the usual circulation period. The extra time enables groups to distribute, read and discuss the book before returning the materials to the library.  Anyone with a Williamsburg Regional Library card can check out the bags, which also include discussion guides and suggestions for other background reading.

Available titles currently include Corelli's Mandolin, Memoirs of a Geisha, Love in the Time of Cholera, What's Bred in the Bone, An Equal Music, Canone Inverso, Woman Warrior and Angle of Repose.  Approximately every three months, new titles will be added to the Gab Bag program.

"We want to add new titles soon after our reading groups complete each session," Smith said. "While we're not buying current New York Times bestsellers for the Gab Bags, we are buying books with widespread appeal and we want to put them in people's hands."

Gab Bags will be housed at the James City County Library, 7770 Croaker Road.  Interested groups should reserve a bag for pick up at either the James City County Library or Williamsburg Library, 515 Scotland Street.  To obtain a list or place a reservation on a title, search the library's catalog using the title or general word feature, and the term "Gab Bag."

The Gab Bags are the latest resource that the Williamsburg Regional Library is making available to reading groups. The library also offers online and print materials to help readers get the most out of the work, books on forming and running reading discussion groups and reference works to help create reading lists.

For more information about Gab Bags, starting a reading group or selecting books to read, contact Andrew Smith at (757) 259-4050.

 

See also: WRL Bookweb

 

                                                                                        

 

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