Spotlight: SBC Berkley Launches a Lending Library!

Guest post by Katie Dehn, Berkley SBC co-host

Our Berkley SBC Chapter has a new way to share books beyond our monthly meetups—a community Lending Library right inside Mother Handsome, the Oak Park, MI café that’s been our chapter’s home for over a year. Over countless gatherings, the Berkley chapter has built a wonderful relationship with Mother Handsome—hosting cozy reading nights, quiet conversations, and even the Silent Book Club 10th Anniversary Readathon with four other local chapters. So when co-host Katie Dehn reached out to co-owner Brooke Zadorsky about starting a small library for the community, Brooke immediately said yes, excited to help bring the idea to life.

Katie purchased a small cart, filled it with books from her own shelves, and soon chapter members began adding their own well-loved reads. Today, the Lending Library is a cheerful mix of genres and stories, all donated and shared by local readers. The Berkley Chapter will keep it stocked with fresh titles and bookmarks about our club, inviting anyone who visits Mother Handsome to take a book, leave a book, and pass along the joy of reading.

We hope our little cart of stories inspires other Silent Book Club chapters to create a lending library of their own—a simple, meaningful way to connect readers and celebrate the quiet magic of shared books.