Early this January, Literary Lounge advisor Shannon Krug announced that she was stepping down in her role, leaving the CHS book club without an advisor. As Literary Lounge struggles to find a medium to continue their club, members must either consider creative methods of meeting with each other or reconcile with the end of a group that has allowed them to form close, long-lasting friendships.
Literary Lounge was a club originally founded three years ago by ‘23 graduate Molly Sobiechowski and was intended to be a book club where students didn’t have to read the same books. All students would discuss their books and read at their own pace.
“I think, to keep you reading, it’s really important to be reading something that you’re interested in,” Krug said. “And sometimes there can be that pressure in a book club, being, ‘Oh, this was the book they picked. I just have to get through it,’ and then you’re not enjoying the process. The club allowed kids to hear about stories that they might not have ever read.”
Especially in the beginning, the group functioned very effectively. Because the book club was so conversation-based, the main source of structure in the group came from the students, allowing them to both connect and have relevant conversations.
“Seeing the group dynamic drive itself was nice,” Krug said. “Molly’s personality especially was so engaging to all of her peers. It worked well because, even if things would go off task, she’d have a moment and pull everybody back together to start re-engaging about books and everything.”
Over time, however, and as the group grew and evolved, senior and three-year member Rowan Anderson felt that Literary Lounge had grown to become more than just a book club to its members. To Anderson, the structure also allowed for more freedom in conversation and building of friendships.
“With Literary Lounge, most people think of it immediately as a book club, which maybe you could call it for simpler terms,” Anderson said. “However, it’s more of a social group because we’re just talking about what we’ve been reading. We’re not all reading the same book.”
The social aspect of the group was integral to its success while the club was still running. As it was difficult to separate the people from the club, Literary Lounge formed its sort of tight-knit friend group.
“I liked seeing that group towards the end of last year just wanting to do things outside of the club together,” Krug said. “It was nice that they did some activities and formed some friendships that way.”
However, after Krug’s recent announcement, Literary Lounge meetings have been put on an indefinite pause. With no teacher lined up to step in and advise, the club is unable to meet on school grounds or even be defined as a school club. In the face of the issue, members are thinking about alternatives to meeting on school grounds.
“It’d be cool if we were somehow able to get funding from the public library,” Anderson said. “We could use one of their spaces to have Literary Lounge, and it could even be a little bit bigger. That can be really cool, and we’d still be able to enjoy time together.”
The Public Library, though the obvious choice, is also not the only space that may be available. Although she is unable to advise the club, Krug hopes for the continuation of the group and suggests another possible space for the club to meet in her absence.
“The Public Library is fabulous for that type of stuff, and any engagement that people can have with that I think would be really good,” Krug said. “I also, however, would highly recommend the serendipity bookstore in town. The owner does things geared towards the elementary school and adults, but then also had a teen author come in and is trying to get people to engage.”
Either way, students need to find something that works. The good times during Literary Lounge are hard to part with for the group’s most committed members, and Anderson especially hopes to not have to part with them any time soon.
“The possibility of it not being able to happen anymore is really hard on me because I love it so much,” Anderson said. “And I’m sure most of the other people in Literary Lounge feel the same. Literary Lounge used to be and still is something that I look forward to the most each week.”
So while Literary Lounge’s time as a CHS club may be coming to an end, the self-sufficient foundation of the club means that it’s still very possible it will continue in the future, just in another format. The close friendships and connections that were established in the three years it ran motivate students to keep finding ways to connect.
“It just has to be student-driven,” Krug said. “So if any of the kids in Literary Lounge are passionate about it and want it to continue, they need to promote it.”
