Are you tired of the pandemic?

I’m tired of the pandemic.

But of course it’s still extremely important that we wear masks, and stay home and socially distance as much as possible. We still have a long way to go with this one, so let’s settle into new routines.

(Pandemics don’t stop being dangerous just because we’re tired of them. It’s a virus thing: they don’t get tired and they don’t get bored and they don’t just stop infecting people.)

And one thing I miss is chatting about books in our book-groups!

Hopefully you are tuned into our weekly book podcasts, to keep up with some chatting and book ideas. Feel free to share those books with your patrons, or use them to spark ideas for new displays.

• Reading With Libraries: book group with new genres and beverages each week
• Browsing Books: quick discussion of books, each week six more books prompted by a different Minnesota state park

But let’s do more than that.

Let’s spend a weekend reading together. Sure, we’ll be home in our individual locations. But we are reading together!

We are doing this the weekend of Friday Nov 13 through Sunday Nov. 15. There are no designated times; read on your own schedule. The point is to take a step back from your regular routine, and have the opportunity to focus on some reading.

So, what are we doing? It’s pretty straightforward:

• Collect books, magazines, or other reading material. We don’t care what you read – just spend some time reading. Find something you are going to enjoy.
• Collect snacks and beverages. This is an important part of any book group experience. Collect things you don’t usually eat, things you love, or just whatever is on sale when you go to the store. If you like baking and or/cooking, go ahead and do that.
• Take pictures of your books, your pets, your snacks, your beverages, your comfy slippers – anything you want to share about your comfy experience.
• Post your readings and photos to social media (preferably Twitter), using #SHAREreading. We want to see how you are doing!
• Join us on Zoom Saturday Nov. 14, any time between 7:00pm and 8:30pm. Tell us about your reading, snacks, or beverages.

We’re zooming! We want to help you stay home, but to still have some socialization. And books are a good thing to chat about on Zoom! So come to talk about the books you are reading this weekend, or books you have been reading lately. We don’t care what specifically you have been reading – we just want you to have a good time.

Add us to your calendar: Saturday Nov 14, 7:00.

Zoom!