Read Anything Good Lately?

By Catherine O’Neill Grace

WCAA,
Spring 2021
An illustration shows an ostrich with its head buried in a book

Aad Goudappel c/o Theispot.com

The members of the recently launched online Wellesley College Alumnae Book Club—1,812 strong at this writing—have a ready answer to that question. In January, the group kicked off with The Other Americans by Laila Lalami, chosen to align with the College’s common read for the first-year class. From March through May, the group took on Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. (Members vote for books among choices provided by the WCAA and will read five books each year.)

The book club is moderated by PBC Guru, a company that runs virtual book clubs for some 200 colleges and private high schools around the world, including Smith, Middlebury, Boston College, the University of Pennsylvania, and Caltech. Participants can log in from anywhere, and offerings are asynchronous, so readers can sign in at convenient moments from any time zone. The club website provides pre-reading questions, themes to consider in the work, and a proposed schedule for completing the reading. There’s an open, member-driven discussion space. You can invite friends to join, volunteer to be a weekly discussion leader, make recommendations for additional reading, and even download a mobile app to follow the club on your phone.

Members were invited to share Wellesley memories to kick off the club. Not surprisingly, these involved Clapp Library (particularly the Book Arts Lab), the beauty of the campus, walking around Lake Waban, connections with professors, and forging lifelong friendships.

“We don’t intend the program as competition for the many vibrant book groups our clubs and classes already run,” says Janet Monahan McKeeney ’88, senior director of alumnae engagement. “We see it as another opportunity for engagement and connection during a challenging time.”

Wellesley has signed a three-year agreement with PBC Guru, so there’s plenty of time to get reading. You can sign up at pbc.guru/Wellesley/join.

Alumnae Lives, Arts+Culture
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