On the third Wednesday of every month, around 50 members of the Baton Rouge community gather to read, drink and ignore each other.
Patrons, Tere and James Hyfield owners of Red Stick Reads, at Pelican to Mars read silently during a recurring silent reading session on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
The Silent Book Club in Baton Rouge offers introverted bookworms a page-turning paradise, inviting them to congregate and read in silence. The club does not have dues, attendance obligations or required reading. In fact, its only requirement is an hour of silence once a month.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a nice community camaraderie where people can go and be together. Alone,鈥 said Joanna Walker, who started the club last year.
Members chatted with friends as tables filled before the club鈥檚 April 16 meeting. But once the clock struck 7 p.m., attendees hushed. For the next hour, the only audible noises from the Pelican to Mars patio were flipping pages, clinking ice in eclectic glasses and fans blowing on a cool Louisiana night.
Once the hour was over, attendees resumed speaking to friends, introduced themselves to those around them or simply left. Oftentimes, Walker said members linger to socialize, chatting with fellow book lovers about what they are reading.
鈥淚t kind of fosters this environment where you鈥檙e not forced to talk to people, but it just happens organically,鈥 Walker said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 been many times that I鈥檝e gone there and spoken to no one but the bartender.鈥
Walker started the unorthodox club last February to give residents relief from the hassles of required readings and uninteresting book selections. She teamed up with Pelican to Mars and Red Stick Reads, a local bookshop, to put on the monthly event. The partners were astonished at the club鈥檚 initial turnout last year and have had steadily growing attendance since.
Silent Book Club began in San Francisco in 2012 after two friends became frustrated with the assigned readings traditional book clubs required. Since then, the organization has grown to 1,700 chapters in over 50 countries. There are six registered Silent Book Clubs in Louisiana, including chapters in Lake Charles, Lafayette, New Orleans, Denham Springs and two chapters in Baton Rouge.
Patrons at Pelican to Mars read silently during a recurring silent reading session on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
鈥淏aton Rouge, we鈥檙e not that cool,鈥 said Lara Harrison, the moderator of Red Stick Reads鈥 Taylor Swift book club. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 do stuff like this. We鈥檙e known for our festivals, we鈥檙e known for our Mardi Gras, but this is like a good safe space of just hanging out, drinking and I mean, you can talk; it鈥檚 just a silent hour of just reading.鈥
For some, the club marks a new kind of community where readers can share differing viewpoints in an approachable way. Katrina Stokes, the director of the East Baton Rouge Public Library, enjoyed the group鈥檚 departure from traditional book clubs, finding it freeing to choose her own reading material while still being able to share her thoughts with others.
Stokes said the popularity of silent book clubs follows a similar trend she saw following the COVID-19 pandemic, when an influx of people used library resources, such as meeting rooms, and attended library programs for forms of human connection. She sees the high attendance of these clubs, particularly by younger generations, as an example of people looking for community in a unique way.
鈥淚 really think it is very much in human nature to seek out and form connections with other people 鈥︹ Stokes said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all coming together for a shared purpose, even though what we鈥檙e specifically doing might be a little bit different or maybe we鈥檙e doing something that matches our own interest. But then we get to turn around and share those with other people.鈥
Sitting at a picnic table situated on fake grass on the Pelican to Mars patio, Red Stick Reads co-owner Tere Hyfield alternated between surveying the club鈥檚 attendance and reading a young adult book. Hyfield said she was skeptically optimistic when Walker first approached her about co-hosting the club.
Despite her initial hesitation, Hyfield said the Silent Book Club has become her favorite club the store offers because it brings so many Baton Rouge readers together.
鈥淚 feel, at the end of the day, readers like this. Like to talk to other readers and be like, 鈥榃hat are you reading?鈥欌 Hyfield said. 鈥淲e want to connect, and not just online.听鈥 I feel like there鈥檚 a huge bookish community in Baton Rouge, but I just feel like we鈥檙e separated. This is just a little place to get us together.鈥
Below are upcoming Silent Book Club meetings across the state. Readers interested in attending a meeting can find the chapter closest to them at 听
Baton Rouge: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 16 at Pelican to Mars听
Baton Rouge: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursday, July 26 at听La Madeleine Perkins Rowe
Denham Springs: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 16 at Cavalier House Books
New Orleans: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. July 13th at Mojo on Magazine.听