The article considers the phenomenon of reading groups from a theoretical point of view, recalling some remarks of Virginia Woolf (in particular her concept of "common reader"). These groups "put the reading in common": share an experience, create social relationships, practice the art of conversation and the reading empathy, give advices, try out new reading ways, the slow reading and the re-reading.
The second part of the article analyses the relation between public libraries and reading groups, and investigates how they affect the libraries. The reading groups are "common goods" -the author says -and take part in a wider commons and open access movement: in a country of weak reading levels and strong privatization trand, this is a sign of progress and hope.
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