Book Club

I work in an elementary school library where I am the assistant to the librarian. I belong to a book club that is informal and mostly made up of teachers and other educators. We usually meet every 2-3 months for the discussion and the meeting is held in the library where I work. There are a few members of the book club that attend every meeting, but it is usually a different mix of people; some people cannot make it or choose to not participate, while others participate every few months- whatever schedules allow. We always meet at lunchtime. While there is no one in charge of the group, per se, someone volunteers at the previous meeting to be in charge of taking a poll for what we have for lunch at the next meeting. An email goes out to all the members of the club with a few options for lunch that are close to the school. Majority wins, we give the volunteer our order, the school pays for the lunch order, but we reimburse them by paying for our own orders on the day of the meeting. The atmosphere of the book club is relaxed and inviting. Before the meeting starts, there is a lot of chatter, people catching up with each other, and getting their food together. 

There is not a leader of the group. Once everyone is situated, the conversation usually begins with someone saying, "So, what did everyone think?" We begin by taking turns giving our basic opinions of the book; "I liked it" or "is was boring" or "I liked this character." All, some more than others, give their opinions without judgment. At our most recent meeting, we discussed a thriller where the protagonist had a mysterious past, the book had several disturbing scenes and a twist ending. We had a fulfilling discussion about about the main character's past and how that molded her present. This aspect of my book club is reminiscent of a quote from Bill Goldstein's article Reads Well With Others, "Book club discussions tend to focus on how the plot or characters relate to our own lives or perspectives" ("Reads" 32) While I believe that all of the members of the group participate during the discussion, I would not say the participation is equal. I think some members are more comfortable speaking in a group than others. I tend to be more open with my opinions in a book club setting and I enjoy engaging with others to see if their thoughts align with mine, or get fresh opinions on what we have read. 

A few meetings ago, the members of the book club compiled a list of books that we could potentially read. Everyone gave their opinions and a list was made with the title of each book and a synopsis. The person who had been in charge of lunch for that meeting made an online poll where the members voted on which books sounded the most interesting to read. The top three selections were decided to be the books for our next three meetings. Several different genres of books were in the running, but ultimately, thrillers won the top 3 spots. After the last meeting, a few of us voiced that maybe we could give thrillers a break and focus on something lighter. We will vote again at the next meeting. Knowing far in advance is helpful, as many of us get copies from the library and we need to hold popular titles. A few aspects of my book club are in agreement with the I Love Libraries website's article "Structuring a Meeting;" we choose 2-3 titles at a time and so far, we have not chose any megahit "favorites." According to the article, we should mix up genres to keep things interesting- a point of which I agree. ("Structuring" 2015) 

Goldstein, B. (2005). Reads Well with Others. Publishers Weekly, 252(21), 30-34.

“Structuring your meeting.” I Love Libraries, 2015, www.ilovelibraries.org/booklovers/bookclub/structure-meeting.