This group walks and listens to audiobooks. It’s not just for introverts.

Close to 100 bookworms walked through the U.S. National Arboretum on Sunday among the sounds of bugs chirping, feet marching and police sirens blaring from a distance.

Many walkers blocked out those sounds; they were listening to narrators read audiobooks on their headphones.

This was the monthly meeting for Book It Around D.C., a new club that combines audiobooks and walking.

“It’s redefining how you can be in (a) community,” said Deidra Bailey, 38, who attended her third walk Sunday. “Like we don’t have to be talking the whole time – or you could be.”

The walkers brought their own books – whatever title they were in the mood for – and strolled at their own pace, speedier people in the front and more leisurely in the back.

Audiobooks have exploded in popularity in the past decade, partly because of how convenient they are to listen to while driving or running errands. In recent years, readers across the country have created groups – a spin on book clubs – where they listen to and discuss their favorite audiobooks while walking.

Since starting in March, Book It Around D.C. has grown, bringing together audiobook listeners who said they feel happier or safer in a group. They also said it’s good company – even if they don’t talk to each other.

“This feels like something that is beautifully both introverted and extroverted,” said Bailey, who listened to “The Book Club for Troublesome Women” by Marie Bostwick.

Kit Ballenger, a youth services librarian who lives in Montgomery County, shared the idea for the audiobook walking club in January with Morgan Menzies, who organizes book clubs and author panels in the D.C. area.

Ballenger loves to hike – she said she has spent “too much time” on the Capital Crescent Trail – and listen to audiobooks. She and Menzies, 31, wanted to combine those interests in a club where people could build friendships with other bookish people.

“If people showed up, great,” said Ballenger, 49. “And if they didn’t, then the two of us would enjoy a nice walk.”

About 15 people came to their first walk on the Capital Crescent Trail, and the group has grown as it has walked the National Mall, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal’s towpath and Jones Point Park in Alexandria, Virginia. Publishing houses and local stores like Bethesda, Maryland-based Wonderland Books supply the group with books, which Ballenger and Menzies give out in a free raffle at the end of walks.

Bookworms say they are seeking like-minded people, especially in light of a recent study that found fewer Americans than ever read for pleasure. In addition to audiobook clubs, silent book clubs, where people gather to read silently, have spiked in popularity across the country. Many readers have found communities on social media, where some of Book It Around D.C.’s members discovered the group through Menzies, who has more than 50,000 Instagram followers.

On Sunday morning, Ballenger and Menzies set up a foldable table in a parking lot in the southern part of the National Arboretum. Cars rolled in, and people of all ages carried headphones and earbuds as they approached the table. They each wrote their first name and current audiobook on a white sticker they stuck to the front of their shirts.

After 91 people checked in, Menzies asked the walkers – mostly women – to circle around her as she listed the group’s flexible rules.

“If you see at any point that there is a tree that you love or there’s some type of, I don’t know, monument that you want to stop and see, we can do that,” Menzies said.

The group began walking a few minutes later – some briskly; others slowly – while many walkers opened audiobook apps on their phones. While most listened to different audiobooks, others chose the same ones to discuss later – like Velicia Darquenne and her partner, Willow, who listened to “The Eye of the Bedlam Bride” by Matt Dinniman.

Some walkers used the roughly 90-minute outing to make friends, chatting about their jobs, their favorite books and their go-to grocery stores. The walkers passed trees, trails and gardens, many stopping to take pictures.

Some said they felt more comfortable with the group rather than walking alone in D.C., where President Donald Trump took over the city police this month and ordered federal law enforcement and the National Guard onto the streets.

“The presence of all this occupation has made it really not feel great,” Bailey said. “But walking into a group that is like super diverse, both racially and age-wise, is like, ‘We are still, as Washingtonians, still here and happy to be here.’ ”

About 15 minutes into the walk, the group stopped for a water break – including a couple of dogs on leashes who drank from a bowl.

Near the end of the roughly 2½-mile loop, the group climbed a grassy hill to gather for a photo. But first, Menzies said, “Turn to the person to your left and tell them what book you’re reading.”

After a quiet walk, the lawn filled with chatter.