The Belmont library offers their patrons a wide selection of events.
One of these events is the Documentary Club, which meets every second Tuesday of the month to watch and talk about documentaries.
“We want to provide access for patrons to opportunities and learning experiences that they may not have outside of the library,” said David Vargas, the community technology specialist at the Belmont library.
At the latest screening, the club watched “Studio 54,” a documentary about the opening and closure of a New York night club.
“I had heard of the club when I was younger and was interested to see the details and the behind-the-scenes of how it worked,” said Pilar Podesta, one of the attendees.
The Documentary Club is just one of the movie clubs hosted by the library. Other screenings include movies with different genres or geared towards certain age groups.
“We already have movie nights for kids and fiction movie nights, so it just made sense to create a club that screened nonfiction movies, such as documentaries,” Vargas said.
Those who attended the movie night attended for various reasons, and seemed to enjoy the documentary shown on this most recent Tuesday. In addition, some of the attendees took a particular interest in the documentary because they remember Studio 54 when it existed in real life.
“This is the first time I have attended one of these documentary nights, and I would probably come again,” said attendee Gene Urbain. “I decided to come because I have heard of Studio 54 in the past, and overall, have a fascination with New York, so I thought it would be interesting to see.”
Other documentaries the club has watched in the past include “Whitney” and “RBG.” The turnout for each night is different, ranging between 10-40 people. After every movie, the patrons typically discuss the movie and their thoughts on it.
“Documentaries are about real facts and not fake news,” Urbain said. “I think it’s important for us to watch them because it keeps us up with history.”
Every month, the Belmont Library hosts many events of different kinds for different age groups, all of which are open to the community.
“I think that library events help keep people up to date,” Podesta said. “Any knowledge I can get is welcome by me.”
