Reading has a way of connecting people, and Dr. Pete's Book Club is helping OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine build community among its students, faculty and staff.

Dr. Pete’s Book Club was founded in 2021 after the opening of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah.

“We initially started the book club to bring faculty and staff together following the pandemic. During COVID-19, we welcomed many new team members to the Cherokee Nation campus who were working remotely and had limited opportunity to form connections and build a sense of community,” said Dr. Natasha Bray, dean of OSU-COM at the Cherokee Nation.

Sonja Settle, director of the Medical Library, was one of those staff members. She was the sole librarian at the time and felt isolated, which led her to start a campus book club.

“For me personally, it was a way to connect and get to know people in the building and build connections across departments,” she said.

When the campus opened and staff transitioned into the new building, Settle proposed the idea to Bray. A reader herself, Bray was on board—and Dr. Pete’s Book Club was born.

According to Bray, Dr. Pete’s Book Club does more than bring staff together; it also helps better serve students.

“We believe that strong support of our students is critical to learners’ success, and that support begins with a connected workforce—by investing in relationships, we foster trust, belonging and a culture of shared growth that ultimately strengthens how we serve our learners,” she said.

For the club’s first meeting, Bray provided copies of “Killers of the Flower Moon” for all participants.

The book selections typically revolve around themes of medicine, rural health, and Native American and Oklahoma issues. They alternate between fiction books in the summer and non-fiction in the fall.

This summer, the club is reading “No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson” by Gardiner Harris.

Settle also offers crafts for participants at the club’s summer meetings, such as making bookmarks or bracelets.

Since its inception at OSU-COM at the Cherokee Nation, Dr. Pete’s Book Club has expanded to the OSU Center for Health Sciences campus in Tulsa and is now open to students as well.

“We have students, faculty and staff all together, building community in a safe and fun way. We’ve talked about all kinds of crazy things. It’s a safe space where civility reigns, and I don’t think there are a lot of places like that anymore,” Settle said.

For both Bray and Settle, it has been rewarding to see how something as simple as a book club has strengthened the campus community.

“The main thing is connection. If people feel like they have a place where they’re connected and heard, it strengthens the entire institution,” said Settle.

Dr. Pete’s Book Club meets from noon to 1 p.m., monthly on the second Monday in Tulsa and the second Tuesday in Tahlequah.