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Neighbors | Zack Shively.The Boardman library had a session of their Reader's Choice Book Club on Nov. 13 to discuss “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race“ by Margot Lee Shetterly. The book club meets the second Monday of every month.
By ZACK SHIVELY
The Boardman library’s Reader’s Choice Book Club met on Nov. 13 to discuss “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race“ by Margot Lee Shetterly.
Librarian John Yingling led the group discussion. He opened the discussion about surprises in the book. From there, the discussion grew organically.
The nonfiction story explains the lives of brilliant African-American women who worked as computers during the space race between the Soviet Union and the U.S.A. in the 60s.
Each person in the group had something to say about the book. The discussion often lifted from the written word to the members’ lives. Many of the book club members had lived through the 60s or had been born around that time, so their elaborations usually included details from what they remember during that time.
Yingling quoted Harry S. Truman saying, “The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know,“ in order to kick off a discussion about how many important stories, like this one, have been forgotten in history. The group thought about this idea for awhile.
They talked about how both women and African Americans were treated during this time. The women in the group discussed some of the language others use to when talking to them.
Yingling brought out different quotes from the book and asked different questions about the book to keep the conversation moving. At the end of the discussion on the story, Yingling began talking about “Before the Fall“ by Noah Hawley, the book for next month’s discussion. The other members talked about the other books they have read recently.
At the end of each session, Yingling hands the group two sheets of papers. One of the sheets lists the book recommendations that members have made during the session. The other sheet has a selected list of books that had been published that month.
The book club meets the second Monday of each month at the Boardman library. Their session lasts from 7-8 p.m.