The idea of a “community read” is pretty basic: Invite the community to read the same book and then come together to discuss it.

That’s exactly what is happening now at Perry Memorial Library, and Assistant Director Christy Bondy said the library has the chosen book – “The Best of Enemies” – in a variety of formats to accommodate readers’ preferences.

The book is based on a true story that took place in Durham, Bondy told Bill Harris Monday on Town Talk. The title refers to a friendship between a Black woman and a Ku Klux Klan member who found common ground against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement.

Published in 2007, the Osha Gray Davidson book was made into a movie that came out in 2019. Bondy said all are invited to read the book now and then come to the library on Aug. 23 at 5 p.m. for a discussion and then settle in to watch the movie, which stars Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell.

Bondy has read the book and seen the movie, and said although she gives the movie a “thumbs up,” she will usually prefer reading a book to watching the movie. But that’s just her bias showing – she’s been around books since she was 5 or 6 years old, helping her mother behind the circulation desk of her hometown public library. She parlayed her lifelong passion for books into a career, joining the Perry Memorial Library staff in November 2020.

The role of libraries continues to evolve, Bondy said, but she predicts that the traditional book checkout will never go out of fashion.

She said the library has a great digital collection available for patrons. The community read book, for example, is available in ebook and audio formats – in addition to the 25 physical copies at the library. She said 7 or 8 have been checked out so far, and she can access other copies from a consortium of libraries that loan books to one another.

“Most people see libraries as a warehouse for books,” she said. While patrons can certainly still come in and choose a physical book from a physical shelf, there’s access to a digital collection of materials, too.

“We will continue to have the traditional format and the digital format” for book checkouts, but there’s so much more to consider than just books.

Bondy said patrons can check out board games, sensory kits and other hands-on interactive materials – even ukuleles.

“Libraries are really transforming,” she said, adding that staff has been doing some strategic planning to be able to provide even more services, such as a podcast studio and a learning garden.

There’s a lot of grant funding to support libraries, and Bondy said grant money was used for the the community read project. Look for more community read projects in the future; Bondy said she hopes to gather feedback and information to develop a series for mid-winter to spring, including intergenerational programming that takes a common theme and chooses titles for different ages of readers.

Learn more at https://www.perrylibrary.org/ or phone 252.438.3316.

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