BUFFALO, N.Y. – University Libraries is hosting one of this summer’s Buffalo Reading Invasions on the lawn in front of Hayes Hall on the University at Buffalo South Campus at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14.
Since 2012, organizers of the Buffalo Reading Invasions have staged these minimalist community events that offer focus and quiet camaraderie. The reading invasions aren’t book clubs, but rather celebrations of reading, community and gathering. There’s no registration, no fee, and everyone is welcome to attend. Just bring a lawn chair or blanket, something to read, and settle in for a distraction-free hour in an iconic outdoor setting.
People are also reading…
“These events are a delight,” says Denise Wolfe, senior communication specialist, who’s leading the libraries’ participation with Mary Kamela, student support and engagement librarian. “There’s this soft chatter as people arrive, but when the event starts it gets so quiet you can hear pages turning.
“There’s no conversation, yet you feel this fascinating connection to the group.”
The reading invasion is also among the challenges on the libraries’ Summer Reading Stampede, a program designed to engage participants with reading, libraries and literacy throughout the summer.
“We want to encourage students to continue reading during the summer,” says Wolfe, who will bring Paul Murray’s novel “The Bee Sting” to the UB event. “But we also want to reach beyond our university community and encourage everyone to visit the university and share the quiet joy of a good book.”
And the setting in front of Hayes Hall, located along the Metro Rail and bus lines, is an ideal place to do so.
“UB’s South Lawn is a peaceful and tranquil park environment,” says Kelly Hayes McAlonie, the university’s director of campus planning. “The E.B. Green planned greenspace provides a natural amphitheater experience that makes it a perfect Buffalo Reading Invasion site.”
This is UB’s first year as a reading invasion participant, but Wolfe first pitched the university as a potential site in 2019. Geoff Schutte, the reading invasion’s founder, agreed about working together the following year, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed those plans. Now with all the pieces in place, Schutte says he’s thrilled to finally be setting up on the historic UB lawn in the shadow of Hayes Hall.
“We hope that readers from all over Western New York will bring a book, a chair, and maybe a friend, or the whole family, and join us for an hour of reading in one of Buffalo’s amazing public spaces,” says Schutte. “The writer Susan Cain on a recent podcast said that reading for an hour feels like ‘a heroic and anachronistic plunge into the past for which we are all nostalgic for.’
“The reading invasions thankfully let us take that plunge.”
