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June 2004
The Book Talk Series
at The Kensington Park Library
by Sara Phang
The Kensington Park Library is famous for a Book Talk
Series, in
which library users and community members read and meet to discuss
books chosen by current or retired librarians. Local authors may also
be invited to discuss their latest books.
The Book Talks tradition began as an opportunity to involve
current
and retired librarians with the local community. After a lifetime
reading and recommending books, and assisting readers to expand their
knowledge and enjoy literature, it’s hard to give that up.
The Book Talk program existed in the 1960s, but was discontinued
due to budget constraints and was revived by Patricia Teller in the
1990s. Priscilla Tapley, one of the Montgomery County Public Library
system’s best known and most devoted adult librarians, started
giving
Book Talks at Chevy Chase Library. Now retired, she remains a very
popular leader of Book Talks. Similar Book Talk programs have been
created at other Montgomery County public libraries.
Book Talk attendees comprise an ever-changing audience,
depending
on the book, ranging from 20 to 60 members. Books to be read may be
reserved ahead of time through the library.
Every chair of a Book Talk has a different teaching style
--
discussion, lecture, question and answer, informal conversation.
Priscilla Tapley prefers the lecture format, since anyone can join the
group, with or without having read the book, so it’s an informal
way of
passing on information about interesting books.
However, each leader of a Book Talk handles the event
in their own
way.
Preparing for a Book Talk is no easy task, as the leader
must read
the book several times and explore its reviews and critics. Tapley says
that if you know the book well, you can relax in front of your audience
and make them enjoy it too. The atmosphere is informal and friendly
--
there are no tests, and refreshments are served.
Books chosen have been published within the last five
years and
reflect current literary top picks, the librarian’s own interests,
and
current events and issues, such as the recent choice of Marilyn
Goldstein, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, “an inspired
blend
of memoir and literary criticism” which relates how the female
students
of the woman university professor Nafisi gathered in secret to read
classic Western novels banned by the government.
Angela Pearlstein’s choice of Joan London’s
Gilgamesh relates the
post-war experiences of World War I veterans who travel to Australia,
and the women in their lives. Priscilla Tapley selected and chaired
the
talk about Bonnie Angelo’s First Mothers: The Women Who Shaped
the
Presidents. This book is full of interesting and inspiring details
about the mothers of (for example) Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry
Truman, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.
Recent Book Talks have included Life of Pi, a literary
best-selling
novel by Martel Yann, chaired by Mike Marx; Don’t Let’s Go
To The Dogs
Tonight: An African Childhood, a memoir by Alexandra Fuller, chaired
by
KP manager Kenneth Lewis; Seabiscuit: An American Dream, by Laura
Hillenbrand, chaired by Hazel Cushing; and Equal Music, by the poet
and novelist Vikram Seth, chaired by Kenneth Lewis. All Book Talks are
held at 11 a.m.
For more information, visit the Kensington Park Community
Library,
4201 Knowles Avenue, Kensington, MD 20895. Phone (301) 897-2211 or check
the web site
www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/libraries.
(Author's note: Information on the Talks was kindly provided
by
Patricia Teller, Adult Librarian at the Kensington Park Library, and
by
Priscilla Tapley.)
More About Book Talks
Notes from
Priscilla Tapley
• I got involved with book talks when I started at
Chevy Chase Library
as a Children’s Librarian. Each participating library’s
Readers
Adviser set up a regular book talk schedule (for instance 4th Tuesdays)
at her own branch, and then filled up the slots with staff volunteers,
local authors discussing their latest book, or librarians from the
central offices in Rockville or other branches.
• If I prepared a book talk for Chevy Chase, I might be asked to
repeat
it at Silver Spring, Aspen Hill, etc., and when I became a Readers
Adviser I would get their staff members to give book talks for me.
• Librarians are all readers. Librarians like to talk
about books.
Each of us giving Book Talks enjoys doing it in his/her own way.
• I hope I’ve given people nudges toward good books they might
have
missed; I haven’t focused on special interests in the community.
• I try to choose a book that is owned by a number of library
branches. Pat Teller gathers those copies at Kensington Park,
and may buy paperback copies as well.
• There are quite a few “regulars” at the Kensington
Park Book Talks,
some bringing along their friends or neighbors. And there are
always
others who come because of their interest in the particular book.
• As a former librarian, and an enthusiastic Book Talker,
I hope
Kensington Park will continue to offer this program series.
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