Novel Conversations is a free statewide lending library creating conversations across county lines and within communities. Through Novel Conversations, Indiana Humanities lends sets of books to Indiana book clubs, offers program and discussion suggestions, arranges author speaking events, and extends social sharing opportunities.

We lend more than 360 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.

New:
Travel with us to England, Botswana, Brazil, ancient Egypt (and Iran, Paris, Pamplona, Shanghai) . . . Go on adventures alongside Daniel Craig, Michael Fassbender, Meryl Streep, Rachel McAdams (and Julia Roberts, Robert Pattinson, Emma Stone) . . . Share in the drama and suspense of competition . . .

Novel Conversations is pleased to introduce three new themes for 2011: Novel Destinations, Reel Conversations and Spirt of Competition . You can put together your own mini-series of reading and discussion programs by reserving these books. Funding for the initiative was provided by The Glick Fund, a fund of Central Indiana Community Foundation.

Each set of books comes with our new Novel Conversations kit, featuring a discussion guide and author biography. Many sets include 3 large print copies and 2 audio CDs per title (click here for details).

The following 5 books are on our 2012 Wish List. Donate now to help us distribute these sets to Hoosiers:

A Pulitzer Prize winning novel:
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

An American Library Association Notable Book:
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

A winner of the Best Books of Indiana award for fiction from the Indiana State Library:
Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana by Melanie Dobson

A winner of the Eliot Rosewater Award, voted on by high school students:
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

A Novel Conversation user’s request:
A Secret Gift: How One Man’s Kindness – and a Trove of Letters – Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression by Ted Gup

FAQs

Who can participate in Novel Conversations?
Indiana organizations such as public and school libraries, senior centers, churches, or formal or informal book clubs. Any Indiana resident can request a set of a books.

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 Indiana Humanities 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 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 Indiana Humanities, we will e-mail you about these acquisitions or with other news. Subscribe here.

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.