New Gateway Book Club Offers Classic Social Networking

Before Facebook, before Twitter, before Instagram, book clubs served as places to socialize, exchange ideas, trade wits and stimulate the intellect. They still do.

The English and Library amp; information Services departments at Gateway Community & Technical College are starting a good, old-fashioned book club designed to combine the best of Skype and other social networking sites but no computer is required.

The new Writing Club and Book Club offers face-to-face conversation in a fun and friendly setting from 6 to 8 p.m. on the last Thursday of every month. The inaugural meeting is Feb. 27 in Room 215H at Gateway's Edgewood Campus at 790 Thomas More Parkway. Membership is free, and the public is welcome.

Ray Bradburys classic, Fahrenheit 451, is up for discussion at the first meeting. Gateway has 30 copies of the novel available for borrowing prior to Feb. 27. Limited copies are available at Gateway locations in Boone County, Covington and Edgewood. Check with the librarian at each location.

Rock Neelly, assistant professor of English and communication, will lead the conversation. A native of Kansas who found his way to the tri-state region by way of Colorado and North Carolina, Neelly teaches literature and composition classes. He has a master of arts degree from the University of Denver in Mass Communications and a masters degree in professional writing and editing from the University of Cincinnati.

Neelly has published more than 50 articles in magazines and journals and serves on the board of the Friends of the Steely Library at Northern Kentucky University. Neelly volunteers at Books by the Banks in Cincinnati and is a member of The Classics Book Club at Midpointe Library. The married grandfather of four is currently working on two novels.

For more information, contact Kathleen Driggers, Gateway librarian and interim director of Library amp; Information Services, at (859) 442-4162, or Kathleen.driggers@kctcs.edu.