We officially kicked off Silent Book Club’s 10th Anniversary Readathon live on the TODAY Show from Rockefeller Plaza! 

Joining forces with Jenna Bush Hager, the founder of the Read with Jenna Book Club, SBC cofounders Laura and Guinevere hosted a special Silent Book Club NYC meetup at the Ned NoMad with local organizers, librarians, and booksellers from New York City, Brooklyn, Monmouth County, Wantagh, Bergen County, Glen Cove, Cherry Hill, Hauppauge, Beacon, Northport, Riverhead, Port Jeff, Spring Lake, and more. Everyone brought their books for a cozy read with the TODAY Show host (and new publisher!) earlier this week.

On Thursday, we brought our books and arrived bright and early (7am!) to pull up an Adirondack chair outside the TODAY Show studios at Rockefeller Center. It was a blustery 40 degrees out, the first cold day of fall, but that didn't stop our dedicated readers from powering through their pages in the company of Jenna and co-hosts Savannah Guthrie, Carson Daly, and a crowd of onlookers. It was the best birthday present we could imagine for our 10th, and we're so grateful to the TODAY Show team for putting together a beautiful tribute to our community.

We hope it inspired many new readers to find a local meetup this weekend during our Global Readathon! More than 200 local chapters in 28 countries are participating, and you can find a directory of locations on our website.

Plus, if you're looking for reading materials, you can try out a free 30-day subscription to our partner Everand for ebooks and audiobooks! We've even got VIP book recommendations from some of SBC members' favorite authors to help you choose what to read. 

Happy reading!

We knew it was coming and here it is. On Friday night, March 14, Trump dropped an executive order calling for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, America’s only federal agency for libraries.

Let us be clear: this is about stripping the American people of free speech, literacy, and public access to information.

Join us in person and online to unite against book bans and show the world that the freedom to read is an American value that must be protected.

When we launched Silent Book Club, our goal was to make this experience accessible to everyone, from small town cafés to international cities to indie bookstore owners and local libraries.

Fellow bookworms, introverts, and fans of not talking... We have some exciting news to share – Silent Book Club has officially reached more than 1,000 chapters worldwide!

Earlier this month, the host of NPR's Nerdette podcast, Greta Johnsen, dropped in on Silent Book Club at Dorothy, a lesbian bar in Chicago (previously featured in this great article). She and her producer interviewed SBC organizer Charlie Schumann and bar owner Whitney LaMora, and chatted with attendees and bartenders to hear what people thought of Silent Book Club.

It's a fantastic listen, highly recommend. The story aired on WBEZ Chicago and you can find the recording online (the SBC feature starts at 15:15), but we've transcribed it here if you don't have a podcast player handy. 

A note from the founders: We created Silent Book Club to be a welcoming and inclusive community for readers. As a platform, Silent Book Club offers an opportunity to create the space and experience members have when they join the group. That's a responsibility we don't take lightly.