Every month, Good Robot Brewing Company in the north end of Halifax provides patrons with some peace and quiet with their silent reading sessions. The bar’s creative director says it’s a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of life. “Just sit down and have a beer, read a book in complete silence – well, we do play a little bit of music, but for the most part it’s kind of like being in a library,” Brent Braaten says. The events first started back in 2016 as a sort of social experiment. “How long does it take for a bunch of people to sit quietly in a room with beer before they start to go insane? That was the original thought. And it actually ended up becoming quite a popular event, so we just kept on doing it,” says Braaten. People from all walks of life show up to the gatherings with “blissfully low expectations for social interaction.” “We get a lot of people from the neighbourhood just looking for a place to read. We get a lot of people who come from other parts of the city because it’s just an interesting and different event,” says Braaten. “We would make an announcement at the beginning and say, ‘ladies and gentlemen we’re about to commence into our Imbibary, so we’d like everyone to please shut up for the next two hours and enjoy your books and please whisper your orders to your bartender.” Braaten says people who attend the events really become a part of them. “Because in order for this to work we need to have people up there who are willing to shush other tables if they’re getting too loud,” he said. “So, you’ll find there’s a lot of people, if someone starts coughing or laughing or giggling or talking amongst themselves or looking at their phone, you will find other tables shushing the bad actors and it sort of seems to regulate itself which is kind of interesting.” The next Silent Reading night at the brewery is Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jim Kvammen For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
