A new kind of book club is hitting the Port Orchard waterfront and participants aren’t speaking a word.

Launched by Salmonberry Books, the audiobook walk invites community members to meet downtown, pop in their headphones, and stroll the shoreline while listening to audiobooks of their choice. The idea came from a newsletter by audiobook provider Libro.fm, which partners with independent bookstores.

“They had mentioned that some towns were doing something called the audiobook walk, and I don’t know, just right away I was like that sounds like something that would be perfect for downtown Port Orchard,” said Lizzy Rolando, owner of Salmonberry Books. “I love to walk along the waterfront listening to audiobooks, and I know we have a lot of customers who really like audiobooks.”

The event is designed to be casual and accessible. “It’s a little lower investment than a traditional book club,” Rolando said. “You don’t have to have read anything in order to participate, you just sort of show up with whatever it is you wanna listen to. It’s really casual.”

The first walk began near the large wooden chairs by the boat launch and followed the pedestrian path along the inlet.“It took about an hour, but most people felt like we could’ve gone for longer,” Rolando said. “So I’ll probably do that twice the next time.”

Participants can listen to any audiobook they choose. “We currently are letting people listen to whatever it is they prefer,” she said. While some audiobook clubs have participants listen to the same title, Rolando said doing so here could create access issues. “We try as best as possible not to require a purchase in order to participate in something like this.”

The event attracted eight people on its first night. “People have been super excited about it,” Rolando said.

After the walk, the group met at Carter and Company for ice cream and shared what they were listening to. “Everyone stayed and we hung out for half an hour, ate some ice cream, talked about what we were listening to and gave recommendations,” she said. “So the feedback’s been super positive, which is why we scheduled another one.”

The next walk is planned for July 29, with the possibility of future events expanding to other locations or different days. “Once we move out of the summer, we’ll probably switch to doing it like on a Sunday afternoon,” Rolando said. “But for now, we’re enjoying the light laid in the evening and nice breeze.”

She also noted that the walks give people a chance to explore lesser-known parts of downtown. “We started the walk officially over by the boat launch where the large chairs are, and I made a joke about how I always hear people talk about the big chairs at Kingston, but we have big chairs too. They’re just in a weird location, so people don’t see them.”

Rolando said several attendees had never seen them before, despite living in town for years. The route also passed through construction areas near the Port of Bremerton offices.

“I’m a big fan of any opportunity to bring people downtown because I think it’s magical and I like helping people discover that,” she said.

Rolando sees the audiobook walk as part of a broader trend of low-pressure events that help people build community. “They’re really good opportunities for people who want to meet other people because it’s not a high-stakes, stressful environment,” she said. “It’s like-minded folks. It’s easy to talk to other people and meet them.”

While the event remains informal, Rolando highlighted the value of Libro.fm, noting the company’s commitment to supporting independent bookstores. “They are very similar to Bookshop.org in that they more or less exist to help local independent bookstores compete with Amazon,” she said. “They’re a social purpose corporation, and they share proceeds with a local independent bookstore of your choosing.”

One of Libro.fm’s co-founders, Nick Johnson, is originally from Kitsap County, Rolando added. “They’re a national organization. They even have international reach now.”