Staff members from the Greenwood Library at Longwood University host an ongoing reading series known as Southside Reads, where local community members receive an opportunity to share their love of reading with others. There is a book discussion each month, starting at 6pm. Discussions are dependent on the reading theme which is chosen by the Greenwood staff and changes from month to month. Currently the monthly discussions are held online because of the pandemic. Furthermore, there is a Facebook group where people interested in Southside Reads can casually glance at updates or actively participate as they please, according to Natalie Browning, one of the Greenwood Library staff.

October’s discussion took place on Tuesday, October 26th. For the month of October, the reading theme was Mystery and Espionage. Most of what people gravitated towards for the most recent reading discussion was Detective Fiction, according to Browning. One example that broke away from the typical idea of the mystery genre was a novel called State of Error written by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny.

            At the moment, the group of active participants for Southside Reads is on the smaller side with approximately 7-8 people, but Sarah Reynolds, the other library staff member in charge of the series, explained how they are doing their best to reach out and spread the word. Over the summer, before the Delta variant of COVID-19 hit, there were a couple of in-person events held in Farmville. One event was held at the Robert Russa Moton Museum, and there were 17 people in attendance. Another way that served to reach Longwood students involved Browning and Reynolds going to the Involvement Fair to give out t-shirts and promote Southside Reads to students. There are also free Southside Reads bookmarks and stickers available in Greenwood Library now.

One of the goals for next year is to have some student involvement and to have more in person meetings for book discussions, according to Reynolds. During the summer, she and Browning attended the Virginia Library Association Annual Conference, where they learned different ways to reach students and factors that could affect their approach, such students being busy with school. Therefore, Reynolds and Browning are considering broadening the type of materials that can be contributed to the monthly discussions, like podcasts or movie adaptations, as long as the material can help people properly engage with the theme. In addition, they are hoping to be able to manage in-person and virtual book discussions down the road. While they are still working on when to establish that rule at the moment, Reynolds and Browning devote their energy into providing variety for the themes given out each month.

            The November theme is Read in One Day, which refers to any sort of writing that can be read in a single day, involving shorter books like novellas and short stories. The date for the book discussion meeting this month is yet to be determined but will most likely be online. For more information and updates on Southside Reads, visit https://libguides.longwood.edu/southsidereads