Last weekend I attended the Maine Humanities Council’s Winter Weekend at Bowdoin College. Essentially it’s a large book group with prestigious speakers, entertainment and the all-important food. As a librarian, this sounded spectacular. This year’s selection was “Absalom, Absalom!” by William Faulkner. I had never read Faulkner but I’m always eager for new genres and authors and an excuse to experience them.

I didn’t like the book. My 29-year-old brain summarized, “that sucked”, as I closed it with finality. I was fearful during the weeks leading up to the event. I felt as though I was missing something essential that my brain couldn’t grasp and I would feel as thus among a group of senior academics.

Sitting in the back of the auditorium hoping no one would notice that I was decades younger than the average attendee, I couldn’t wait for the weekend to be over. It was my own embarrassment of the lack of understanding that I would need to tackle. I didn’t want to sound like the kid everyone was expecting me to sound like.

As I nervously shifted in my seat waiting for the first speaker to begin, I picked up on the chatter surrounding me. My eyes widened. While no one voiced that the book “sucked,” there were euphemistic versions of the same consensus. I saw others quickly paging through the second half of the book. It’s an assumption but I believe that they never got through it in the first place and were trying to catch a quick summary – I should have saved them the time and told them not to try. Many of the more than 200 attendees seemed to share the same opinion. I was relieved.

Fast-forward to the end of the weekend. It was all so enjoyable: the people, the conversations. I should have known better because I conduct my own book club in a similar fashion, just at a much, much smaller level.

Recognizing that everyone has different tastes, I have the readers take turns choosing the selections. While some may not always enjoy a book and others couldn’t even finish it, all are encouraged to show and we always have wonderful discussions.

I believe this is because while the book matters, it matters not so much as a volume unto itself, but rather as what it represents. A “book club” is somewhat of a misnomer that may suggest we’re selective of our materials and our members. We more or less have a “book chat.” It’s a social forum where ideas are shared and generated and if that’s not the definition of the modern library then I don’t know what is. We digress, go off on tangents and explore the upsides to the downward spiraling of face-to-face communication along with the great human unifier, food.

So I now understand Faulkner a bit better than I did before and if I don’t have respect for the book itself, I have utter admiration for those who can understand and explain the book. More importantly I learned that I have more in common with other people than I previously believed to have.

With this in mind, Walker Memorial Library in Westbrook will be hosting its first Book Chat on Thursday, April 9, at 6:30. There is no assigned book. We just want to hear what you have to say about your favorite, or the book you most recently read or whatever happens to come to mind at the time. This event is free and open to all.

Michelle K. Conners is lending services librarian at Walker Memorial Library In Westbrook.