Southern Oaks Library Celebrates a 25-Year Book Club and 10 Years of Tai Chi
Inspiring minds and movement, the Southern Oaks Library, a branch within the Metropolitan Library System, is celebrating two meaningful milestones highlighting community and connection. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Southern Oaks Book Club and the 10th anniversary of its Tai Chi program.
Darrie Breathwit, a library engagement specialist, founded the Southern Oaks Book Club and has guided the group through thrilling adventures, historical dramas and thought-provoking memoirs.
“A good book can be a prescription for health and wellness,” says Breathwit, whose literary passion is infectious. “Reading books has given me more than I could have imagined in my life, and that enthusiasm is what I like to pass on to others.”
Breathwit describes the book club as deeply community-oriented, with members becoming like family. The book club meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 11:30 a.m.
“We experience life together, marking both happy and sad milestones,” she says. “I’ve had attendees say that reading has helped them through grief. To get caught up in a book, a setting, and the characters in a story, it can give your brain another place to go and sometimes allow a kind of healing.”
Breathwit keeps the book selection process organic, viewing it as a collective effort and allowing everyone to suggest a topic or title. However, longtime member and retired elementary school teacher, Dorothy Cox, is quick to share that Breathwit has introduced her to books she would not have discovered on her own.
“Darrie chooses books that I would never have found on the shelf, if it weren’t for her,” says Cox. “When we come together to discuss a book, it’s always interesting to hear everyone’s ideas and viewpoints.”
Recent books have included The Women, by Kristin Hannah, Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt, The Invincible Miss Cust, by Penny Haw and The Eighty-Dollar Champion, by Elizabeth Letts.
Cox says the book club readings have opened her eyes to unique historical experiences and expanded her perspectives. She praises the benefits of turning off the television, social media distractions, and instead picking up a good book, emphasizing that books are irreplaceable for developing critical thinking.
“I have former students that will come back and tell me they remember the books I read to them in class,” says Cox, noting how books impact all ages.
She encourages anyone interested in a book club to give it a try.
“In our group, even if you’re not able to finish the book, you’re free to just come and listen,” says Cox. “It’s a very welcoming group.”
It’s this shared love for literature, the art of storytelling and the strength of community that has kept the Southern Oaks Library Book Club thriving for so many years.
“We wouldn’t have lasted so long if it weren’t for the people who have chosen to spend their time here and be a part of this group,” says Breathwit.
Tai Chi Program
Another nod to the power of community is the Southern Oaks Tai Chi program. A decade ago, Maggie Shirk received her Tai Chi instructor certification through OU Health’s Oklahoma Healthy Aging Initiative (OHAI). She saw a need for classes in her area and soon volunteered her expertise at Southern Oaks. Tai Chi was recommended to her by her doctor and consists of slow-motion, low-impact movements that help strengthen muscles, improve balance and flexibility, and help ease pain from arthritis.
“With Tai Chi, there isn’t a ‘no pain, no gain’ attitude,” says Shirk. “Instead, it’s about doing as much as you can and seeing how it can help. I had one participant who suffered from a locked shoulder when she began my class. After a while, she was able to start moving it and continued using Tai Chi to keep it mobile.”
Shirk’s class, Tai Chi for Better Balance, soon filled and was so impactful that several attendees became certified instructors. Founding members Barry Beall and Lyle Henry received their certifications and continue teaching today. Beall teaches at an area church and Henry currently leads classes at Southern Oaks every Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9:30 a.m.
Henry notes that Tai Chi can be very beneficial to older adults as it improves stability, places a practical focus on fall prevention, and offers cognitive benefits as well.
“As people age, they tend to look down and begin to shuffle their feet,” he says. “My goal is to help participants walk more confidently and raise their eyes toward the horizon. With Tai Chi, you’re also really exercising your brain as you go through the repetitive and mindful sequence of movements.”
With every participant having gone through the same learning process, Henry says the environment is warm and welcoming.
“Everyone there has felt the benefits of Tai Chi and it’s changed their lives,” he says. “When someone new comes, we’re very encouraging. No one is a stranger. You may go to some classes somewhere else and you’ve been there for three months and still don’t know the name of the person next to you — that’s not us.”
For Breathwit, both the book club and Tai Chi classes are a testament to why public libraries remain an essential community resource.
“Libraries serve as bridge builders, meeting community needs and bringing people together,” she says. “Because of that, I don’t believe they will ever lose their value.”
Whether someone walks in searching for their next favorite book or looking to improve their balance and mobility, Southern Oaks Library continues to give people a sense of belonging and will do so, for many more years to come. To discover a Metro Library near you, visit metrolibrary.org.
