Saint Mary’s BookNook club lounges around Lake Marian to read

The Belles’ BookNook club hosted a picnic style “read-in” event at the island on Lake Marian at Saint Mary’s on Monday afternoon.

Madison Suseland, the club’s vice president, described the club as an English, reading and writing club. She explained that the event was organized to give students the opportunity to relax while enjoying literature.

“We came up with this idea at one of our meetings,” Suseland. “It had been done by the previous Belles’ BookNook board last year, so we thought it would be a really good idea to just come out to the island on a nice day and have a picnic style ‘read-in,’ so we could just lounge and enjoy the sun.”

The “read-in” was club’s first event of the school year.

Belles’ BookNook secretary Leeanna Silkworth said she appreciated how inclusive the club was of students with different majors, varying academic schedules and extracurricular commitments.

“I’m here because I just really like reading and writing, and while that may not be one of my majors specifically, I do just really enjoy doing that,” Silkworth said. “I thought BookNook was the perfect opportunity for me to pursue some of the paths that I don't necessarily do in school.”

Suseland also explained what drew her to the Belles’ BookNook.

“I’ve been really passionate about reading and writing since I was 4-years-old,” Suseland said. “And I am an English major, so this is perfectly in line with what I love to do.”

She also highlighted how BookNook appeals to students of all stripes.

“I just really like that BookNook creates a space for anyone from any major to come together and share this love for reading and writing … you don’t have to be an English major. You don’t have to be a writing major,” Suseland explained. “We just wanted a space where we could explore our passions, and that’s kind of why I’m here.”

Silkworth noted that the low time commitment allows students to easily attend events.

“Especially because it’s not time consuming, it’s easy for other people if they do have other majors or other engagements,” she said. “They can all just come hang out when we have fun little events.”