We miss seeing you in our spaces and we miss hosting in-person book clubs in our locations. Until it is safe to do so again, we want to offer an alternative- host your own #alonetogether book club.

Hoopla digital has made it incredibly easy to plan a virtual book club. If you’re unfamiliar with Hoopla Digital, it is an online platform that provides access to free digital content with your Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh card. Because the content available on Hoopla allows for unlimited simultaneous users, you and your friends can all check out and read or listen to the same title from Hoopla’s collection simultaneously.

If you’re not sure what to pick, Hoopla digital has curated a collection of book club recommendations featuring a variety of genres and titles that are available in both ebook and eaudio formats.

If you’re worried because you’ve already maxed out your monthly check out allotment, Hoopla has just unveiled a new special collection called “Bonus Borrows”. The items identified as “bonus borrows” won’t count towards your regular monthly limit, so don’t be afraid to go wild with those check outs!

If you’ve never facilitated a book club before, Book Riot offers a handy list of “40 great book club questions for any book”. The thorough list offers suggestions to get the conversation off the ground and keep it moving. There are both general questions and ones specifically for fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, and short story selections.

Keep your eyes open for CLP’s upcoming virtual book club programming. Staff is currently working hard on the logistics of bringing the same quality programming patrons have come to expect in-person virtually. Until then, get a group of friends, select a book from Hoopla Digital’s vast selection, give yourselves a time to read, pick a time to meet on your preferred digital platform, and enjoy!