“A Novel Idea” book club allows student to explore a number of different genres of books while also providing an environment for interesting discussions.
Under the leadership of Abygail-Dawn Lan, a senior and club president, strives to promote reading and analysis of various genres of books.
“I think that reading should be fun for all students,” said Carlmont Librarian Alice Laine. “The book club provides them with an opportunity to read something outside of the school curriculum.”
The book club is also supported by the Belmont Library and its representative Kayla Figard. Laine, Lan, and Figard work together to provide the students with a captivating book list that would further indulge them in reading.
The club has helped the school community by promoting the importance of reading and discussing texts as well as selecting the summer reading book for the upcoming year at Carlmont.
Aidan Jacobson, vice-president of A Novel Idea, said: “We try our best to select a book that students will have to read as a part of their summer reading assignment.”
In the future, Lan and Laine are working together to create short videos summarizing the books that the club reads.
“I noticed that there are not a lot of book reviews on YouTube,” said Lan. “I thought that it would be a good idea for us to post videos on YouTube since we read a ton of books throughout the year anyways.”
According to Lan, the reviews will include a short summary, as well as other video ideas that were proposed at the club’s meeting.
The club is interested in gaining more members, since many of the members will be graduating this year.
“We need to work towards attracting new members into our club,” said Lan. “Without participation, we won’t be able to continue working towards our goal.”
However, the club has yet to focus on advertising.
“It’s not that we do a poor job in advertising — it’s that we have not paid any attention to it,” said Jacobson. “If we put in time and effort into advertising, we might be able to attract a few more members.”
Although the club lacks participation at times, many of their members are more than happy to be a part of it.
“I joined the club in my senior year because I got really into reading, and I really wanted to meet some of the more experienced readers,” said Priscilla Camillo, a senior. “In addition, it helped me to become more social and more comfortable with reading.”
The club’s goal is to create a community that would satisfy the needs of Carlmont book lovers and introduce reading to more students.
“Reading is fun supposed to be fun,” said Laine. “But with all those curriculum assigned books, students do not get to experience the joy of reading a book that they love.”
