How a Book Club Is Revitalising Community in a Dormant Civic Space

​​On a quiet December afternoon in Monfalcone, something small — but meaningful — began to stir.

Between the shelves of Libreria Ubik, as daylight softened and the city slowed, more than twenty people found their way into the space. They arrived alone or in pairs, some curious, some shy, some simply hoping for warmth on a winter day. Different ages, backgrounds, and life stories, all gathered for no grand announcement, no panel discussion, no speeches.

They came to talk about books.
And, without quite realising it yet, to talk about themselves.

That afternoon marked the first meeting of Correnti, the new book club created by Collettivo Onda. But what unfolded felt less like a launch and more like the beginning of a shared rhythm,  a gentle reawakening of conversation in a city where civic spaces have long felt quiet, fragmented, or closed off.

A Collective Born From Care

Collettivo Onda began as an informal, grassroots, youth-led movement in Monfalcone — a response to a growing sense that public life had narrowed, and that many voices, especially younger ones, had drifted to the margins. In November 2025, the collective formally took shape. Shortly after, it reached an important milestone: receiving European support from the Civic Innovation Fund.

The recognition mattered,  not only because it sustains Correnti and other initiatives through 2026, but because it sent a powerful signal. That Monfalcone matters. That even small, often overlooked cities are essential to Europe’s democratic and cultural future.

At its heart, Collettivo Onda works to reopen spaces for civic, cultural, and social participation to strengthen community ties and to rewrite the narrative of Monfalcone with inclusion, equality, and democracy at the centre. Correnti is one expression of that vision. More than a book club, it is a current something that gently carries people toward one another.

Culture as a Place to Belong

Culture has a quiet power. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t demand. Instead, it invites.

A book club may seem simple from the outside a circle of people discussing a story yet these gatherings often become something deeper: moments of recognition, belonging, and shared meaning that linger long after the last page is turned.

Correnti was shaped together with Elena Caliandro, a literature teacher at the Scientific High School in Monfalcone. Her love for language, stories, and education helped create a space that felt thoughtful, welcoming, and alive. Within weeks, through word of mouth, social media, and genuine excitement, the idea took root.

Libreria Ubik became its natural home a place where culture is not just displayed, but lived and shared.

Stories That Open Windows

Books allow us to travel without moving. They let us slip into other lives, cross borders, and encounter realities far from our own.

At Correnti’s first gathering, participants played a small game of clues and hints, slowly uncovering four possible reading choices. Together, they voted a simple democratic gesture for the book that would guide their first shared journey.

The group chose Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park, a novel set in Seoul that explores identity, intimacy, and the contradictions of modern life. Reading it together means more than following a plot. It means asking quiet but profound questions:

What does it mean to belong?
How do we live with difference?
Where do we recognise ourselves in the stories of others?

Here, literature becomes both mirror and window reflecting who we are, while opening us to the wider world.

From Solitary Reading to Shared Meaning

Reading is often solitary. But loving books is deeply social.

A story truly comes alive when someone says, “I felt seen by that character,” or when another reader offers a completely different interpretation. In Correnti, there’s no pressure to be prepared, articulate, or even finished with the book. Some come having read every page. Others come simply to listen.

What matters is showing up.
What matters is curiosity.
What matters is care.

Through books, people discover they share something essential: a desire to understand the world and each other.

A Small, Everyday Democracy

In many ways, a book club is a small act of democracy.

People sit together.
They listen.
They speak.
They disagree respectfully.
They create meaning collectively.

In a time when public conversation is often polarised or absent altogether, spaces like Correnti help rebuild the habit of dialogue. They remind us that democracy is not only something we vote for it’s something we practice.

For Collettivo Onda, bringing young people back into civic life is a core commitment. Not as spectators, but as protagonists and co-creators. Correnti is part of this effort: a space where generations meet, experiences overlap, and the future of Monfalcone can be imagined together.

A City Beginning to Move Again

The partnership with Libreria Ubik, the support of European philanthropy, and the energy of the community all point in the same direction: Monfalcone is not static. It is moving.

Slowly, gently, through conversations, stories, and shared moments.

The next Correnti meeting will take place on Saturday, January 24, 2026 at 4:00 PM, once again at Libreria Ubik. Participation is free and open to anyone who wishes to listen, share, or simply be present.

Because books don’t just tell stories.
They bring people together.
They remind us that democracy often begins with a conversation.

And that community is born every time people gather — with curiosity and care — around a table of shared words.