”A good book is one that you open with pleasure in advance and close after being enriched“
The ability to communicate is a great asset. People exchange thoughts, opinions, or are simply happy to be heard and to hear others. It is even more interesting when people are connected by specific interests or goals. Ten years ago, the readers of Dūkštas branch of the Ignalina Public Library gathered in a reader’s club, in order to be able not only to spend time together, but also to enjoy reading books: to gain knowledge, to accumulate pearls of wisdom and of course to dream.
One afternoon, the librarians of Dūkštas library, Elvyra Mačiulienė and Nijolė Mažeikienė, invited the readers of the club “Atgaiva” to a conversation over tea and a cake baked for the occasion. Everyone remembered the history of the club, the joys they experienced, unexpected adventures and even a little curious situations. How can we do without them, when the readers’ opinions about the book differ and none of them wants to give up their position. Then you have to argue hotly.
Life is changing, modernizing, the book itself is not only paper, but also electronic or audio. The Reading Club, which has been operating for ten years, joined the Ignalina Public Library project “EUR-READ&ART” in 2022. The club members with librarians create book trailers based on the books they have read. The future is unpredictable, but the people of Dūkštas try to maintain the traditional approach to the book, its value.
Readers of the club were also thanked for their active participation in the activities. Trailers created by club members and librarians were viewed again. When the club got involved in the activities of the ” EUR-READ&ART ” project, their work was filled with even more interesting activities, helping to see what other reading clubs, not only in the district, but also in Europe, do, what books they read, what moods they live in.
The members of the reading club “Atgaiva” are already older women, because young people, as they say, don’t have the time. “We find time for what we like, of course. It’s the choice and decision of each person,” says Ona Paukštienė, a baker of cakes and sweets, florist, gardener. Former paramedic Genė Misiūnienė also actively participates in the activities. Vanda Alėjūnienė, a former primary school teacher, besides her activities in the library, also manages to perform in the Dūkštas ensemble, and earlier, when the Dūkštas Cultural center was actively operating, she also performed there. Valė Saikauskienė, also a former paramedic without activities at the library, still rides her bicycle to her farm outside Dūkštas, where she grows vegetables and fruits.
Women do not only read books and share daily activities and advice, knowledge, insights. All of them surf the Internet, communicate with their children and grandchildren online with the help of special apps, and then discuss the news when they meet in the library. Although many young people think that older people are behind life and primitive, the reality is quite different: older people are far superior to young people, because they have experience, they have beaten the soles and teeth of mistakes, they have looked through the recesses of the Internet, and most importantly, they read books and communicate live, share.
Dūkštas library provides services rarely heard of – home service. Librarians know their readers, have their contacts and deliver the literature they want to the homes of readers over eighty years old or disabled. “For our readers, it is not only a change of books, but also an opportunity to communicate. People are waiting for some kind of event, they are in a hurry to make coffee or tea so that you don’t rush, you take some time to drink tea and talk to them. Loneliness in old age depresses a person”, says N. Mažeikienė.
All good things come to an end… until the next good times!
