Walking into the Belmont Library, patrons can access a variety of resources, get any questions answered, or enjoy a quiet afternoon reading a book.
In addition, the Belmont library host a number of events that help unite the Belmont community closer together. One of these events is the Documentary Club.
The Documentary Club is a monthly event hosted by the Belmont Library that aims to spread awareness about the movie culture and educate the public on various topics.
“The Documentary Club has been going on for years,” said Theresa Saito, a librarian and the coordinator of the club. “It’s a very old program that brings many people together to watch different movies and have discussions.”
By showing various documentaries and having discussions the club allows people to join together and learn new things on a variety of different topics.
“I have been going to this club for the past two years or so,” said Jane Hazoot, a patron. “The part that I enjoy the most is talking to different people about the movie because everyone has something to share and we usually have very interesting discussions.”
The discussions that the club has are meant to be enriching activities aimed to bring people with different opinions together and allow them to learn from one another.
These discussions are meant to bring people with different opinions together and allow them to learn from each other.
“Normally we would watch a movie and then people would talk about it and their opinions on it,” said David Vargas, a librarian and the coordinator of the club. “More often than not people have different opinions and tend to like bringing them up for a collective discussion. We would also have very interesting discussions if there are any people that have experiences related to the movie.”
In addition, the club and its coordinators would encourage authors and directors to come in and present their works to the general audience.
“Sometimes we would have authors and directors come in and share their works with the audience,” Vargas said. “People would have ‘Q&A’ sessions with the audience and people would get somewhat of a background story on the piece and learn more about the artistic process behind creating it.”
The club aims to spread awareness about pressing social issues and to educate the public on different topics in society.
“I come to this club because it gives me such a unique opportunity to learn new things,” Hazoot said. “We watch movies on different topics. Most of them are fascinating and I would not necessarily encounter them in my daily life.”
The Documentary Club, among other activities offered by the library, is meant to bring the community closer together by providing people with a safe space where they can share their opinions.
“This club is just another way for us to reach out to the community and bring people with common interest closer together,” Saito said. “We want to create a space where people can learn new things and be able to discuss their ideas with one another.”
