SIOUX CITY -- Long before Oprah's Book Club, there was The Bard of Avon Club in Sioux City. Members of the club gathered Sunday to celebrate 100 years of reading.

Where? The Wilbur Aalfs Library, of course.

They came dressed in and toting styles representing decades of the past century. All share a bond: Love of the written word.

"The book club is an old-fashioned idea that's become popular again," said Ona Iverson, a member of the club since she retired from teaching in 1991.

Why did she join? "I've always been an avid reader and I wanted to be with other women discussing what they were reading," she said.

The group has discussed works like "Cold Mountain" by Charles Frazier, "Our Daily Meds," by Melody Petersen and "The Closing of the American Mind," by Allan Bloom.

One meeting per year is devoted to the group's namesake, William Shakespeare, who was known as "The Bard of Avon."

The Bard of Avon Study Club, according to a club history, was organized in 1909 by Sioux City women looking have a learning experience with other women who wanted to share ideas and learn through the study and reading of books about Shakespeare.

By-laws called for only 20 members. A member had to be invited to join and paid $1 annual dues. Fines were levied for unexcused absences. Fines were also imposed if a member didn't present an assigned program.

Presently, there are 18 members in the club. Dues are $10, half of which goes toward the purchase of a Christmas gift that is given to charity.

The group meets every two weeks and hears from one member who has read a book and reviews it. In many cases, several members of the club have read the book that's up for discussion.

The most voracious reader of the current group might be Joan Kelly, who reads two to three books per week. "I have one going in the living room, one going in the bedroom and one book that's floating somewhere in the house," she said.

In 1909, Iverson said, this club was an outlet for women in Sioux City. The club was established 11 years before women earned the right to vote. A new children's book that year was "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by Frank Baum.

Iverson pointed out that the average worker made $12.98 per week in 1909 for 59 hours of work.

While things in society and in the literary world have changed in a century, it appears The Bard of Avon Club will continue. So said member Margy Bonthuis, clad in a 1950s jacket and broach. So said Iverson, who donned an old mink stole that belonged to her mother-in-law, Mabel Iverson.

"I just hope they're not using Kindle books then," Iverson said.