Elsie Adamo
WHAT is Mount Gambier’s favourite book genre?
For National Book Lovers Day on Tuesday, the Border Watch talked to Kristi Brooks, team leader of library programs at the Mont Gambier Library, on the region’s book reading habits.
According to Ms Brooks, there is a clear winner when it comes to the Limestone Coast’s favourite genre for reading.
“Our most popular genre is rural romance, Australian authors writing about regional Australia with a touch of romance in there,” Ms Brooks said.
“They are so popular we have dedicated a bay in our foyer area, which we replenish every couple of minutes with people from the library grabbing the books from there.
Second place goes to the crime genre, according to Ms Brooks.
“We have just had two great crime authors visit the region, which we were really pleased about,” she said.
“They were very well attended by the community…it is great authors are able to travel now coming more out of Covid-19.”
Young readers have been coming into the library to borrow ‘BookTok’ recommendations they found on the social media platform TikTok.
“We have recently developed a whole collection with ‘BookTok’ books which we have been promoting through social media,” Ms Brooks said.
“It is not necessarily new titles, some of them are quite some years old, and they are being propelled again through the platform.”
Ms Brooks said she opts for books that have a realistic edge to them, such as historical fiction, biographies and true crime books, instead of romance.
“I love when a book is based on a character or a true event in time, and it has been fictionalised to give it that strong storytelling,” she said.
It is a book’s ability to transport you to new worlds or explain new ideas to which Ms Brooks has always been drawn.
“I felt like I learnt so much from reading, it really does take me to different places, whether it is travel or a different period in time,” she said.
“I love reading, it is such a relaxing escape for me. It is something I can just do on my own and enjoy.”
Mount Gambier’s love of reading has not waivered through the pandemic, said Ms Brooks, but the way locals are reading is starting to change.
“Our online content went through the roof,” she said.
“The phones were going crazy, we were helping lots of people get online, which has continued to grow.
“I think people have grown in confidence in using technology and seeing the benefits of it.
“I personally like to hold a physical book, but there are benefits to being about to use ebooks.”
