Teen organizes book club at Nahant library

NAHANT – Library Assistant Erin McCall said in a small town like Nahant without a high school, it can be tough to market library programs to teens.So when 14-year-old Olivia Barton-Nedugno approached her with the idea of a teen book club, McCall said she was thrilled.?That fact that she was approaching us told us there was a market for it,” said McCall. “The fact that Olivia was willing to do a test run of that is really exciting and I hope to see it take off.”Library Director Jen Inglis said to her knowledge, the group is the first of its kind in Nahant.The members, four middle school-aged girls, picked fantasy novel “Shiver,” the first in a trilogy by young adult author Maggie Stiefvater, for their first read at their first meeting on Dec. 12. McCall said she has not personally read the novel yet, but according to reviews she looked through, the series is based on werewolves and romance. “I think they were taken with the romance,” said McCall.The club will read through “Shiver” on their own and meet on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 3 p.m. after they?ve finished the book and to pick a new title. McCall said she suggested a meeting halfway through the book, but the four thought it would be too good of a read to pause for reflection.?They all seem to be strong readers,” said McCall, adding that Barton-Nedugno was a frequent user of the library before she suggested a teen group.McCall said she was flexible with titles, letting the members choose what they wanted to read, a much less daunting task now that Nahant is moving toward an automated system that makes borrowing from other libraries much simpler.McCall said Barton-Nedugno was already working to build the group, passing out flyers at Swampscott Middle School. Barton-Nedugno being an eighth-grader could help Nahant land high school participation as well.?We?re trying to make teens aware of the library in town and get them involved where we can,” said McCall. “We?ve tried some young adult programming in the past. This summer we held the first young adult reading program, and it was okay but we want a stronger base network.”Since Nahant sends its middle school and high school students to Swampscott, McCall suspects they may be using the libraries at their schools rather than their town library. McCall said she may be reaching out to the Swampscott Public Library to partner up on some programs for teens. “It would be nice if we could reach outside the community a little more,” she said.Those interested in the book club should contact McCall at the Nahant Public Library at 781-581-0306.