Auckland librarians are driving people in their 20s back to books.
They've created a book club atmosphere in a wine bar and called it 'Reading Between the Wines', and it's become the hottest ticket in town.
Librarian Laura Caygill is targeting the type who thinks libraries are stuffy and traditional book clubs are overbearing.
"We really tried to take a social tack when we were putting this together," she says. "We didn't want to make it about coming to the library, so we went out to bars and promoted the idea of meeting new people. That seems to have really hit the mark."
With the help of social lubricant, the idea's taken off. This month's chosen wine bar was packed with young professionals, avid readers like Gemma Elsey.
"[The meetings] are quite casual, so you can kind of pop along if you want and there's not necessarily the focus of having to read a book like a formal book group," she says. "So you can actually talk about the wine or the food, which makes it quite interesting."
In fact, this is a gap in the market. Harry Potter cast his spell on youngsters, while many get back into reading later in life, but those in their 20s aren't big on borrowing books.
"These gatherings are ideal for those who don't have the time to pop into the library during the day," Ms Caygill says. "They can sit around and chat about books in relaxed surroundings, meet new people and take a book home to bed."
Aucklanders can take out up to 35 books on their library cards -- not a bad return for a good literary chat over a couple of glasses.
Newshub.
