Thunderbirds Read book club returns
The Mesa Community College library, along with the counseling department, will host the Thunderbirds Read book club for the first time since the pandemic.
The Thunderbirds Read book club has taken place in prior years, with books such as, “The Hate You Give”, “Ready Player One”, and many others.
“It’s an opportunity for students, faculty, staff, the community, basically anyone who wants to get involved to come together and share in reading a book,” said library faculty Marjorie Leta.
The book club will allow those who join to expand their knowledge and have deeper conversations about social issues that arise within this year’s book, “The Midnight Library.”
“We try to focus on choosing books that either focus on a social issue or a topic that’s current and timely to what’s going on either in our world or just in our community,” said Leta.
Books are chosen based on what the student, faculty, and staff suggest and vote on. The book with the most votes is chosen to be read for the semester.
The planning process is done in the fall semester, which is why the book club is held in the spring of the school year. Preparations are done at the start of the year to allow for time in choosing the book and promoting the book club.
“We read the story together, discuss it. We pull in any outside sources or campus resources that also might relate or help in discussing some of the topics,” said Leta.
To help further the conversations on themes from the book, the counseling department is brought in to facilitate discussions as, “the book does cover things like suicidal idealization, career choices, regrets, and basically living your best life,” said Leta.
Topics like those listed above may be triggering for individuals, so the counseling department is joining the meetings to help guide those conversations.
The counseling department is not only involved to facilitate difficult conversations, but is there as another resource for students to go to for whatever they need.
The book club hosts three meetings during the spring semester at both campuses, and has been doing so for many years.
“Traditionally, the library does one book club a year and it usually does happen in the spring, ” said Leta.
The first meeting will be held at the end of March, which will consist of picking up the book and meeting others who are participating. Any following meetings will consist of discussing the book as it is being read.
