photo by: Contributed/Ann Dean

Polli Kenn, a Readers’ Services Supervisor with the Lawrence Public Library (second from left), with other Readers' Services staff during the library's 2023 "Haunted Stacks" event with books and a scavenger hunt. Celebrations and events like that are part of the library's "Booktoberfest," now in its fifth year, that aims to create communities and connect residents to library resources.

As a way to create a larger community of readers, Polli Kenn said the Lawrence Public Library held a “book nerd” party in 2019.

When 300 people turned up to that event at River Rat Skate Shop in North Lawrence, Kenn, a readers’ services supervisor with the Lawrence Public Library, was excited with the results.

“A lot of younger people showed up; folks we don’t normally see (use the library),” Kenn said. “We thought we had something.”

That first event served as a “prototype” to Booktoberfest, a monthlong event catered to adult readers that aims to bring the community together through a love of reading and bookish events. Now in its fifth year, Kenn said the event connects everyone from true bookworms to people trying to get back into reading.

“It’s a great way to meet people and connect with people who want to make reading part of their lives more,” Kenn said.

This year, LPL’s Booktoberfest features eight free events during the monthlong celebration of reading. It kicked off Sunday with a screening of the documentary “Rebel with a Clause” along with a talk by one of its subjects, Ellen Jovin.

Booktoberfest is part of the broader mission of helping adults find books they’ll enjoy reading, but also creates a wider community for Lawrence adults. Kenn, who also helps curate the adult fiction collection, said that during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 it was clear that people “missed the connection of being around other people.” She said creating more events that help others connect through the shared love of stories at the library, which is already a community hub, seemed like the “perfect way to do it.”

Over the years that the library has hosted Booktoberfest and other programs like it — including an adult summer reading program that more than 1,500 people completed, which Kenn said was a record for the library — the participants have been a mix of heavy library users and people who have rarely used the library before, Kenn said.

In addition, Kenn noted some events are hosted at other venues in the community, which gives the library staff a chance to meet with people who might not be regular users and create a relationship with them that connects them to its resources.

“We have free books here,” Kenn said. “You don’t have to go to Amazon … We got you.”

Kenn added that many younger adult users have come into the library saying they are “trying to get off (their) devices” and get back into reading. The library’s programs, such as book clubs and the adult reading program, have helped rekindle a love of reading, Kenn said. In fact, Kenn said when adult book club finishers would come in to get their prize, many thanked the library for “helping them stay interested in reading.”

For the rest of Booktoberfest, the library will host a mix of events like author talks and trivia before closing out on Oct. 25 with its Haunted Stacks event — an after-hours event that will feature alcohol, books and a scavenger hunt with a Halloween party theme, Kenn said.

photo by: Contributed/Ann Dean

Lawrence Public Library goers working on a scavenger hunt during the “Haunted Stacks” event in 2023.

Also on tap is the library’s second annual “Book Nerd Trivia Night,” which will take place Tuesday Oct. 7 at Maceli’s Banquet Hall and Catering, 1031 New Hampshire St., from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Kenn said that last year’s event was also a way to meet new people. Some people came without a team and had to team up with other people at the event.

Kenn also said she was particularly excited for a talk on Sunday, Oct. 19, by local author Rachel McCarthy James, who will be discussing her recent book “Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder.”

Kenn hopes the Booktoberfest event can continue to grow and be a chance for people in Lawrence to not just connect with the library, but to connect with each other at free events that promote the benefits of reading.

“It’s been a great event (that) has a good section of our whole community,” Kenn said.

A full list of of Booktoberfest events is available on the library’s website. Some events require attendees to register in advance.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

The bookmobile is parked outside the Lawrence Public Library on Friday, July 26, 2024, ahead of the library’s celebration of the 10th anniversary of its building.