The DC Public Library offers a variety of book clubs for residents to gather and discuss their love of books. Below is a list of just some of the clubs offered. Please note that sometimes book club events are canceled or rescheduled due to unforeseen circumstances. Please check the calendar to make sure an event is scheduled on the date you wish to attend. You can also call the library where the event is scheduled.
Afternoon Book Club
The Afternoon Book Club of the Shepherd Park Library typically meeting on the first Wednesday of the month at 1:30 p.m. The discussion is led by library customers, members of the book club, and the book selections include fiction and nonfiction. You may call 202-541-6100 for more information.
All the World’s a Stage
The History Division at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library sponsors this club, which meets the fourth Monday of each month (except December). In conjunction with the book club, the library sponsors the All the World’s a Stage Film club, which meets the third Monday of each month.
Banned Book Club
Teens meet every fourth Monday at the Georgetown Interim Library to discuss banned books and talk about freedom of speech.
Black Voices Book Club
The Black Voices Book Club of the Shepherd Park Library typically meets the third Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. The group discussion will focus on fiction novels by African-American, Caribbean, and African authors. Please contact Daniel Akunwafor at 202-541-6100 for more details.
Capitol Hill Nonfiction Book Club
This club, run by a library patron, meets the third Tuesday of each month at Southeast Neighborhood Library.
Capitol View Wednesday Afternoon Book Club
This adult book club meets every second Wednesday of the month at the basement level of Capitol View. Each meeting has a different facilitator on the “Book of the Month,” which includes current fiction, nonfiction and black biographies. Light refreshments are served. Call 202-645-0755 for more information.
Cleveland Park Library Mystery Book Club
This club meets the first Thursday of each month on the 2nd floor at Barnes & Noble, 12th and E streets N.W. The group chooses the books each month, two to three months in advance. All types of crime writing are considered, from cozies to noir. Monthly notice is sent by e-mail. You don't have to join the group to receive the e-mail. For more information, contact Barbara Gauntt at the Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library. Call 202-282-3072 for more information.
Francis Gregory Book Club
This club for adults only meets every fourth Wednesday at Francis Gregory Neighborhood Library. Selections include fiction (mystery, romance, history, short stories, classics, etc.) and nonfiction (biography, travel, finance, etc.). The facilitator invites suggestions from customers, book club members and staff. Past selections include The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, The Wake of the Wind by California Cooper and The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. Call 202-645-4297 for more information.
Family Book Club
This book club is for children ages 9 to 13 and their parents and meets at the Georgetown Interim Library every second Thursday.
Girl Power Book Club
This club for grades 4 to 8 meets every first Monday at the Capitol View Neighborhood Library. The club reads both fiction and nonfiction books. Each girl gets to be the facilitator and choose the book of the month. After the book discussion, the club does book-related arts and crafts. For more information, call 202-645-0755.
Glamour Girls Rule Book and Activity Club
This club is for young ladies ages 6 to 12 and meets at the Capitol View Neighborhood Library twice a month (every other Saturday), with some minor adjustments during the summer months.
The Glamour Girls read a variety of books chosen by the girls and library staff.
High Noon Book Club
The Washington Highlands Neighborhood Library book club, High Noon, meets the first Monday of every month at noon. Book selections include both fiction and nonfiction, and are chosen by club participants two to three months in advance.
The Kitchen Table Book Group
This group meets the last Saturday of the month at the Southwest Neighborhood Library. This informal group does not require that members read a particular book for each meeting, but rather has an informal discussion about what members are reading now.
Palisades Library Book Club
This club meets once a month on the third Tuesday at the Palisades Neighborhood Library. The club reads a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction with occasional forays into poetry and plays. Everyone makes suggestions, and the club chooses the selection by group consensus. For more information, contact the library at 202-282-3139.
Petworth Book Club
This genre-based adult book club meets at the Petworth Library at 7 p.m. the third Monday of every month. Each month a book from a different genre is chosen by group consensus. There is also an informal meeting the first Monday of the month. To join the group, go to http://groups.google.com/group/petworthbookclub.
Re-readings: A Classics Book Club
Remember all those classics you intended to read in high school and college? This book club for adults meets the first Tuesday of the month at a Cleveland Park watering hole (usually on Connecticut Avenue) to discuss and debate masterpieces of literature and all those "good for you" books you avoided in school. Previous books have been approximately 300 pages and include The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Love in the Time of Cholera, White Fang, My Antonia and The Sun Also Rises. Books are selected from the Guardian newspaper and Modern Library's "100 Best Books" lists and voted on by the group. For more information, call 202-282-3072.
Shades of Black
This adult club focuses on black fiction and non-fiction authors. Discussions are held the third Tuesday of every month in the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in the Popular Library Division.
Southeast Library Fiction Club
This club is held on the last Thursday of each month at the Southeast Neighborhood Library. The club discusses new and classic literary fiction and is very welcoming to new members.
Urbane Book Club
Like light and funny reads with a little romance thrown in? The Urbane Book Club is the book club for you! The Urbane Book Club, which meets every fourth Tuesday at the Georgetown Interim Library, is for women and men who love to read Chick Lit! If you miss a month or want to find out the next title, please contact the Georgetown Interim Library at 202-724-8783.
Urban Fiction Book Club
This club meets at the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Interim Library the third Wednesday of the month.
Venture Boys Book Club
This club for grades 4 to 8 meets every fourth Monday at Capitol View Neighborhood Library. The club reads both fiction and nonfiction books. The boys take turns being the facilitator and choosing the book for the upcoming month. After the book discussion, the club does book-related arts and crafts.
Watha T. Daniel/Shaw History Book Club
The History Book Club meets on the third Monday of each month at Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Interim Library. The club discusses the same book two months in a row, to give everyone a chance to participate. For more information, contact the library at 202-671-0265.
West End Book Club
This club meets at the West End Neighborhood Library the third Tuesday of every month. Call 202-724-8707 for more information.