The new GBF Intergenerational Book Club!

The Gaithersburg Book Festival Partners with Local Senior Living Community and Nonprofit Organization to Bring Generations Together Through Young Adult Book Club

We all remember the stories that raise us, the ones that occupied our nightstands and put us to sleep, whose covers have cracked or fallen off from overuse. No matter our age, they are stories that stay with us, that we revisit when nostalgia comes. They are children’s stories, yes, but they are not simply that. They go beyond age and have the unique power to touch every generation, young or old.

“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.” – C.S. Lewis

The Gaithersburg Book Festival holds these stories dear and strives to find new ways to connect people over them. After years of hosting a weekend where readers of all ages could gather once a year to celebrate their shared passion for stories, GBF sought to build on this, to create something special year-round for readers to experience together.

With this idea in mind, GBF found a partnership within The Carnegie at Washingtonian Center, a luxury senior living community opening in spring 2024. A strange and unlikely partnership to some, upon first thought – what does a senior living community have in common with a book festival?

The same way GBF cherishes the power of the written word, The Carnegie at Washingtonian Center does, as well. With its strong emphasis on the arts, culture, and literature, The Carnegie is becoming an intersection for these pillars of society, despite its future opening date. Their Discovery Center located in Downtown Crown has become a host for many events that seek to engage the Gaithersburg community in various programs focused on the arts, culture, and literature. Because of this, a partnership between GBF and The Carnegie began to form, and the idea for starting a GBF Book Club was born.

But how could this idea transform into something more than just an everyday book club? How could GBF take our passion for children’s stories and bring people of all ages together?

Enter Link Generations, a nonprofit organization with the goal of educating the youth of Gaithersburg and surrounding communities about aging. Started by Lori Marks, Link Generations manifests itself as clubs in various high schools where teens gather to not only learn about the aging process but engage with older adults in the community. Through sessions that focus on ‘bridging the gap,’ these two generations partake in different activities, such as poetry, art, cooking, etc.

The idea of ‘bridging the gap’ stood out to us and our partners, and we felt compelled to explore the possibilities of this theme further. So, on Sunday, November 6th, the Gaithersburg Book Festival launched the first Intergenerational Book Club in partnership with The Carnegie at Washingtonian Center and Link Generations. Adults, ages 55 and better, from the Gaithersburg community gathered in The Carnegie’s bespoke Discovery Center to connect with teens involved in Link Generations clubs. There was an instant, tangible bond that filled the room as everyone became acquainted with one another before breaking off into small groups.

Their task for the first session? Making the important decision about book to dive into first. Together, older adults and teens brainstormed their favorite books they have or have yet to have read, picking out the stories that spoke most to them.

The list boiled down to these standouts:
• Torch by Lyn Miller-Lauchmann
• The Many Half-Lived Lives, Sam Sylvester
• The Leavers, Lisa Ko
• The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, Wes Moore
• Emerald City and Other Stories, Jennifer Egan
• The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
• The Upside of Falling, Alex Light
• Rebel Spy, Veronica Rossi
• The Silent Unseen, Amanda McCrina
• A Silent Voice, Yositoki Oima
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Rick Riordan
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, JK Rowling
• Hearts Unbroken, Cynthia Leitich Smith
• In the Wild Light, Jeff Zentner

We are grateful for our partnership with The Carnegie and Link Generations. We encourage you to learn more about our partners who helped make this happen and who cherish the power of stories as much as we do at the Gaithersburg Book Festival.

To learn more about becoming a member, please contact: Sam Martin at sam.martin@kiscosl.com or Lori Marks at lori@linkgenerations.com.
We are thrilled to have launched this book club, and we can’t wait to see it grow!