The international phenomenon comes to the William Jeanes Memorial Library!

What is Silent Book Club?

“It’s just the most amazing thing to see the introvert revolution literally remaking the way we organize society — this time, the world of book clubs.”
Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

Silent Book Club is a global community of readers and introverts, with 300 chapters around the world led by local volunteers. SBC members gather in person and online to read together in quiet camaraderie.

Silent Book Club started in 2012 with a couple of friends—Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich—reading in companionable silence at our neighborhood bar in San Francisco. We loved books, and reading with friends, but most of our previous attempts at book clubs had fizzled out.

Often with traditional book clubs there’s the scramble to finish the assigned book, and the pressure to have something smart to say. Wouldn’t it be great to have a book club where you could just enjoy books, friends, and wine—without any homework? At Silent Book Club, there’s no assigned reading.

We started Silent Book Club because reading with friends enriches our lives and makes us happy. We love hearing about what people are reading (often in their other book clubs) and we think it’s important to put down our phones and be social. Real, live, breathing-the-same-air social, not hearting-you-on-Instagram social.

Read more about it HERE.

TL; dr  Silent Book Club meets in a public place–like a library!–everyone has a bit of chat first if they feel like it, then you spread out to READ. Come back together at the end, if you wish, to share book thoughts, then you’re on your way. It’s THAT SIMPLE!

We’re pleased to launch the first Montgomery County-based chapter here at William Jeanes. Join us on Sunday afternoon, October 22nd, as we meet to plan the Club. We’ll talk about ideal days and times, and how it will work in the Library setting.

And if you’re more of a joiner than a talker, that’s okay too. We’ll have paper ballots to fill out instead of chatting, and then we’ll point you toward some reading chairs around the building!

If you’d like to check one out, a new club just started up in Philadelphia. Find their info on the SBC website or on social media, and sign up for their next meeting.

Please register for our organizational meeting and first Silent Read, so we know how many people to expect.