Shepherdstown Public Library director Christy Hagerty, right, accepts one of the Philip Roth books from Susan Hall-West, of Shepherdstown. Standing beside them are other members of the Legendary Shepherdstown Philip Roth Reading Group, from left to right: Susie Roza, Nancy Stewart, Darah Kehnemuyi, Maylene Reisbig, Mark Kohut and Howard Wachtel. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — After the COVID-19 Pandemic hit, Shepherdstown resident Howard Wachtel encouraged a group of his friends in the Shepherd University Lifelong Learning program to begin spending a little time together each week, via Zoom, by reading one of American novelist Philip Roth’s novels.

“My friend, Howard Wachtel, sent me an article from ‘The New Yorker’ about Philip Roth’s last novel, ‘Nemesis,’ which was set in 1944 in Newark, when the polio epidemic was sweeping the country. He said, ‘Why don’t we do this, because it’s like the same, but just a different disease?’ said Mark Kohut, of Shepherdstown. “Everybody loved it. And then, a person or two said, ‘Let’s keep reading Philip Roth.’ And suddenly, it was a movement!”

With Roth having written 31 books throughout his lifetime, the undertaking was no small feat. But the idea proved to be a hit. A group of 18 local residents started reading through Roth’s books together in March 2020. Over the next four years and nine months, some of the members came and went, but around 10 remained consistently involved in the Legendary Shepherdstown Philip Roth Reading Group, according to Kohut, who led the group.

“It started when COVID hit and continued until we finished all of his books in December 2024,” Kohut said, mentioning the group got so into reading Roth that they even made a trip to the Philip Roth Personal Library, with two Chicago residents who had recently joined the group. “It was a good idea to have this goal in sight for us, because we didn’t know how long the pandemic would last!”

After the group completed its goal, they wanted to mark their achievement in a special way. Kohut learned that the Shepherdstown Public Library (SPL) only had one of Roth’s books and, soon after, asked if he and the group could donate his collection of Roth’s books to the library.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Legendary Shepherdstown Philip Roth Reading Group officially presented the collection to SPL director Christy Hagerty.

“It’s a lot of books, but it’s okay! It filled a gap in our collection,” Hagerty said. “Philip Roth is a well-known American author, so I’m happy to have it!”

The Legendary Shepherdstown Philip Roth Reading Group is continuing on with its Monday morning meetings for the foreseeable future, said one of the group’s founding members, Susan Hall-West, by reading some of the books that inspired Roth. They are currently reading and discussing Franz Kafka’s “The Trial.”

“We’ve grown so fond of each other, that we don’t want this to end!” Hall-West said. “The gathering point is Roth, but the reason we’ve made it all this way is because we love spending time together.”

Her fellow group member, Darah Kehnemuyi, agreed with her, while noting the benefits of challenging oneself to read through an author’s complete works.

“When you read through all of the books of an author, you learn a lot about that author, too!” Kehnemuyi said. “In Roth’s case, you get to see the development of his talent over decades. He got better and he changed. He had periods of growth and regression, too. It was fascinating!”