Maureen Olson, who was named Osoyoos’ Volunteer of the Year in April 2015, is a proud longtime member of the Osoyoos Book Club. The club recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in this community. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Literally millions of pages have been turned – and millions of words spoken – by members of the Osoyoos Book Club over the past five decades.
Last week, the Osoyoos Book Club officially celebrated its 50th anniversary as the club was officially founded in the middle of June in 1966, said longtime member Maureen Olson.
Since being formed, the club has always maintained a membership of around a dozen avid readers, said Olson.
“We always strived for about 12 members because that’s a comfortable size for us to hold our meetings in the homes of our members,” she said. “From the very beginning, we’ve never had an office or location, but operated by meeting in the homes of our members.”
Members with the Osoyoos Book Club average reading about 10 books per year and their annual monthly meetings usually focus on having a lengthy and cerebral discussion about the latest book they have read, she said.
“We have used a variety of methods to determine which books we’re going to read over the years,” she said. “There were years when we would select a theme and only choose books that fit with that particular theme.
“But over the last few years, we’ve tended to focus on books that have become notable or popular for whatever reason or been recognized by various book lists for being outstanding or challenging reads.
“I’m proud to say that using this formula has resulted in us only recommending a couple of duds in the past several years. A lot of the books the last few years were very challenging in terms of challenging our morals or sensibilities. Those are the books that arouse the most interesting conservations and discussions at our meetings.”
The member who recommends any particular book is put in charge of leading the discussion at the monthly meetings, said Olson.
Discussions can range from talking about reviews, to discussing the author’s style of writing and debating the merits and faults with each writer, she said.
“We’ve read some pretty challenging stuff the past couple of years and it’s lead to some very interesting discussions,” she said. “The most challenging books lead to the most interesting debate and discussion.”
There are at least two or three books recommended each year that other members would never have heard of or read without that recommendation and that’s what makes being a member of a book club so rewarding, said Olson.
Some members of the Osoyoos Book Club have been members for more than 30 years and founding member Marian Shepherd has been involved since day one, she said.
“Marian has literally recorded every one of the books that have been read by members over the past 50 years,” she said. “It’s a very long and impressive list and I’ve been proud to be a part of it for more than 25 years.”
With the introduction of the worldwide web, internet and digital reading devices, some members have changed with the times and possess things like e-readers, but most members still treasure sitting down and reading books by turning the pages, said Olson.
“I would say the vast majority of us share the passion for reading actual books,” she said. “The technology has changed, but there’s still nothing like sitting down and reading the actual book by turning the pages.”
Club members have supported literacy projects in Osoyoos for decades, including making contributions to the Books for Babies and donating books with a Christmas theme to the annual Toys for Tots fundraising drive organized by the owners of Smitty’s Family Restaurant, said Olson.
Olson said she’s met many great people and made some lasting friendships through her membership in the Osoyoos Book Club and she has no plans of giving up her membership any time soon.
“I’ve met some great friends … and I’ve also passed my love of reading down to my three children and all seven grandchildren as all of them are avid readers,” she said. “I’ve been able to read literally hundreds of excellent books because of this club.”
While book club membership will always remain low, there’s a long list of book lovers who want to join, said Olson.
“Whenever we lose a member for whatever reason, we have no trouble finding someone who knows someone in our club and they are excited to join,” she said.
The Osoyoos Book Club members continue to meet during the last Thursday of every month, except July and August – and Olson said she’s looking forward to many more years of reading good books, sharing lively debate and a few laughs along the way.
Olson said she has every intention of continuing as an active member of the Osoyoos Book Club and is looking forward to reading many more quality books and engaging in some lively debate.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
