EBONY PAGES BOOK CLUB was founded in 2000 by Yolanda Williams. After a previous attempt that failed, Yolanda was urged by a member of that previous book club, Arlean to start another one. Yolanda contacted friends, coworkers, church members, and family to invite them to an interest meeting. She wanted to generate enough interest to have a club with 10-15 members, so she created a unique invitation using titles of current books. There were seven ladies at the meeting on August 12, 2000. During that meeting the main points that were focused on were a love of reading and a commitment to read the chosen book each month.

In the beginning...

During that interest meeting, a set of guidelines were established. Between the interest meeting and the initial meeting, Ebony Pages was voted on and chosen as the name of the book club. The inaugural meeting was held on Thursday, September 21, 2000 at Yolanda's home. The original members were Yolanda Williams, Arlean Brooks, Dorlene Bruce, Frances Graham, Tamaira Johnson, Freda McClain, Tonya Peele, Mamie Wilkins, and Marilyn Williams.

Let's get things started

Since that first meeting, members have come and gone, guidelines have been amended, and we once had 18 members. Now we are at capacity with 15 members. But the one thing that hasn't changed is our love of reading. Our group consists of women who have different backgrounds and lifestyles, but love to read. Although fiction is a favorite, we try to incorporate nonfiction books, such as self-help and memoirs into our selections as well. Our hostess facilitates the meeting and uses our standard set of questions, a reading guide, or any other creative tool for the book discussion. Our questions are set so that we discuss the characters, the plot, how we relate to what took place in the story.

Still going strong

We introduced our website in September 2002. Check out the books we've read, our community service projects, and photos from author visits, events, and celebrations.