Southwest Library celebrates success of 20-year-old book club

When Rollins College held its annual Winter with the Writers program, librarian Sandy Mayer planned a Rollins Reads month with her book club and took members to Winter Park to meet the authors.

In 2013, Mayer learned one of the authors coming to speak was a writer named Gilbert King, who had penned a book about four black boys who in 1949 were falsely accused of raping a 17-year-old white farm girl in Groveland and were convicted by an all-white jury. Thirteen book club members caravanned to Winter Park to meet King — and after the session ended, he stayed to chat with Mayer and a few of the club members.

“He wanted to keep talking; he was interested in my friend who lived in Groveland,” Mayer said. “He missed his last shuttlebus to his hotel. So, I said, ‘Come on,’ and we gave him a ride to his hotel. Two or three days afterward, the guy wins the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction … for ‘Devil in the Grove.’”

Yes, it was that Gilbert King, famous for and recognized for writing “Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America.”

“He was in my car; he was sitting in my seat,” Mayer said with a laugh.

‘I WANT A BOOK CLUB HERE AT SOUTHWEST’

The reason Mayer started a book club at the Southwest branch in 2005 is simple: Her manager asked her to. It’s her love of reading and group discussions and fostering community that has her continuing the club 20 years later.

Make that “clubs.” The branch now offers five — the traditional and longest-running Southwest Book Club, which meets on the fourth Thursday of each month; the Nature Walk Book Club, which meets for a low-impact walk and chat at either Nehrling Gardens, Shadow Bay Park or Bill Frederick Park; the Joy of Reading Book Club, a no-stress club in which there’s no preselected book and members just get together and share what they’re reading; the Virtual Book Club, which was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic and meets the fourth Tuesday; and the Y Read Club, where members take turns reading aloud Saturdays at the Dr. Phillips YMCA.

The original reading club is the longest-running through the Orange County Library System.

WHAT THEY’RE READING

In all, members have read 213 books spanning various genres. Mayer keeps track of all the books and what readers ranked each one from 1 to 5.

“I’ve realized you never can tell what people will like and not like,” she said. “I continue to be surprised. Generally speaking, the adult book clubs that I run here, they like historical fiction. … I try to bring some classics back in.”

Some of the favorites have been anything by Eric Larsen and David Grann, she said. Other great discoveries were Sarah Penner and Irish author Claire Keegan.

There were several books that were unpopular and scored low: “The Monster of Florence,” by Douglas Preston, and “Down and Out in Paradise – the Life of Anthony Bordain, by Charles Leerhsen.

So how does Mayer choose the books?

“We’ve had a variety of ways,” she said. “For many years, I would reach out for recommendations or suggestions and I would put together a book ballot. Some nonfiction, some fiction. People would vote, and the books that got the most votes were the books that we read. I usually did that twice a year. … Since the pandemic, I’ve been picking them.

“It has to be a highly discussable book; some books are great but not discussable,” Mayer said. “These are library-sponsored book clubs, so we have to make sure people can access them, whether an e-book or downloadable audio book or in print. There has to be enough copies available.”

Mayer said she has eclectic taste when it comes to books, so she keeps in mind not everyone will like what she likes.

She had long enjoyed attending book clubs, making several lifelong friends while a member of the Literary Ladies club at the Winter Garden branch.

She does her research before meetings.

“It’s not just read the book and pull some discussion questions off the internet,” she said. “When you’re reading you want to pull out … good discussion points.”

She also shows attendees online author interviews and shares background information on the authors.

“We have so many other book clubs that if that isn’t your cup of tea, there are others to check,” Mayer said. “One may not be to your liking, but try a different one.”

A LOVE OF BOOKS

Mayer’s love affair with books goes back to her childhood, when her grandmother got books at the local country store in rural Minnesota and read to Mayer nightly.

As an adult, Mayer had a career in social work before obtaining her Master of Library and Information Science and accepting a job at the Orange County Library System.

She worked in the downtown Orlando branch before moving to Southwest. She couldn’t imagine working anywhere else, which is why she has stayed for 23 years.

“I’ve had wonderful managers who have allowed me to purpose my goals, passions,” she said. “I’ve never gotten bored at this job. In the beginning, we were basically reference librarians, we didn’t do a lot outside of that. I’m not the traditional librarian — they have this reputation of being so smart and can win any trivia contest. I’m more of a social worker librarian, not the English librarian. I’m glad the rules changed to be more outreach.

“The library is a place where people can get a taste of new things … but also it’s about connection,” Mayer said. “What I’ve enjoyed over the years is seeing people get close, make friends and connections. … I, by nature, am curious and love to learn new things and happened to land into a job where I was encouraged to do that.”

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