The CRI book club was created by Kelli Strieter as a way to build community and to help CRI members work together to gain knowledge that we can then share with our wider communities. The book club meets ever few weeks at the Haddon Township branch of the Camden County Library System. Check back here often for our progress and the time and date of our next meeting. All CRI members are welcome to join at any time.

Presently we are reading On Freedom by Timothy Snyder. Even if you don’t want to come out to the book club, the members of the club are all enjoying this book and recommend that you give it a try. You can purchase it at your local book store or by following the link found here.

The inaugural meeting of the club took place on April 3rd, 2025. The meeting focused on the author and a few of the early sections of the book. The preface to the book as well as the first chapter (Freedom) were covered in detail. The chapter of Sovereignty was also started at this meeting.

The second meeting was held on April 24th, 2025 and ten CRI members participated. After first time attendees introduced themselves to the others, the club picked up discussing the chapter on Sovereignty. All in attendance had a lot of interest in the unique way that the author talked about the topic and shared their favorite lines and passages from the book. Members also did a great job of applying what we read to their lived experiences and ideas they had picked up from other books.

Our third meeting took place on May 8th, 2025 and seven CRI members participated. The club spent the session discussing the chapter on Unpredictability. Predictably, we all had many things that we wanted to share with the group. One of the primary things we focused on was the idea that people try to rule us by exploiting our predictability. To counter this Snyder and the thinkers that he references encourage us to avoid falling into our most probable states. Members of the group assisted each other in finding the best ways to express their thoughts on this chapter.

Our fourth meeting was held on May 22nd, 2025 and six CRI members participated. This chapter dealt with Mobility. You cannot have freedom if you are trapped in your circumstances. This can be viewed both literally and figuratively. If you are blind or unable to walk and society doesn’t make allowances for you, you have not freedom of movement and thus no freedom. It can also be viewed as social mobility. If have no chance of bettering your circumstances, you will never be able to pursue your interests.

Our fifth meeting was held at one of the member’s house because the library was booked. This allowed us to run extra long and finish the entire chapter on “Factuality”. In this chapter Timothy Snyder tells us that positive freedom requires access to facts and the ability to process those facts. This means that people need education and training in critical thinking. Society needs reporters who bring their values to their job so they can help frame the facts for the betterment of the people and the people need to defend and support the reporters. Finally, he mentions that freedom of speech doesn’t just mean a free for all in which people are manipulated by a jungle of money, power, and spectacle.

Our next meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 19th at the same home that was used today. We will be going over the chapter on “Solidarity” and possibly the conclusion. All CRI members, even those who haven’t been to any of the previous meetings are encouraged to attend.