Novel Conversations (formerly called Humanities to Go) is the statewide lending library of the Indiana Humanities Council and is open to any Indiana book club.

The Council lends more than 300 titles, primarily fiction and biography, to reading and discussion groups at libraries, senior centers, schools, and other organizations, free of charge. Books include classic titles such as Little Women and To Kill a Mockingbird , as well as contemporary titles such as The Poisonwood Bible and The Time Traveler’s Wife. View the book list for a complete listing.

FAQs

Who can participate?
Indiana organizations such as public and school libraries, senior centers, churches, or book clubs.

How much does it cost?
It's free, as long as books are either: shipped via the Indiana State Library’s INfo Express service (formerly known as Wheels), or picked up and returned at the Council’s headquarters at 1500 N. Delaware St, Indianapolis.

How do I order books?
All books must be reserved in advance. Call 317.638.1500 or 800.675.8897, ext. 128, or e-mail Nancy Conner at nconner@indianahumanities.org. We need the following information:

1. The title of the book (see the book list)
2. Number of copies desired
3. Date when you would like to receive them
4. Date when we can expect them to be returned.

You should receive an email or phone call in response to let you know whether the books are available or not, for the date requested. Remember, Novel Conversations is first-come, first-served. To ensure availability, make your reservations as far in advance as you can.(To check availability, please view the Reservations PDF on the right-hand side of this page.) Reservations will be recorded in our database, and the books will be shipped at the appropriate date. If they do not arrive when expected, please let us know.

How long may we keep the books?
Negotiable, but typically six weeks. Many groups hand out books at one monthly meeting, then discuss and collect them at the following meeting. We prefer that you return as many books as possible by the due date, even if you do not have all the copies back yet. For example, if you borrowed 12 books and only have 10 back at the due date, go ahead and send us the 10 copies because that may be enough for us to fulfill another library’s request.

How are books added to the collection?
Quite a lot of our newer books have been donated by libraries. We have also received special funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities for books related to current Council programs. In 2008, we also received special funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a series on “The Immigrant Experience.” If you'd like to receive news from the Indiana Humanities Council, we will e-mail you about these acquisitions or with other news.

Cautions, caveats, etc.:
The number of copies to be sent is not absolutely guaranteed. If another group loses a book or two, we may not be able to send the number requested although it should be reasonably close. IMPORTANT: INfo Express picks up our books for shipment only on Wednesday. Orders received too late (after 3 p.m. on Tuesday) cannot be shipped until the following Wednesday.