Going to a Bookclub
For this assignment, I found a book club at a local library that marketed itself as an atypical book club where they both read a book and were looking to make friends in the community. To further this goal, this book club took place around dinner time at a locally owned pizzeria. So while snacks were not provided, the venue allowed the attendees to both eat and drink, if they were so inclined.
For the discussion, it felt very informal. There were several staff members from the library present but they did not say much in an official capacity. They mainly handled the housekeeping things, such as collecting books at the end of the night and distributing the book that the group had decided on reading for next time. They did have a short introduction, where they welcomed new people and let them know how the discussion worked for this book club. Other than those couple of functions, you would not be able to tell apart the library staff from the regular patrons who were attending. The discussion was more of a small group discussion, where you would talk with the four to six people around you about the book. With that in mind I cannot say how everyone behaved in each group but in my group everyone participated to the discussion. There were good questions asked with only a few questions that had a yes or no answer. Those that were able to be answered simply tended to have a lot of follow up questions that still made them worth discussing. I don’t think that any one person stole the show so to speak. After a while the group I was in began relating the book to real world topics in our life. There was discussion about how people had similar experiences or certain parts resonated with them because of a specific reason. I felt like this book club was more of a gathering of friends that happened to read a book rather than a group of people reading a book who happen to be friendly.
Looking back at the previous books that they have read there appears to be no pattern to what books they read. Sometimes it is a best seller or award winner, other times it is classic, and still others it is a book that I had never heard of. When talking with the patrons that attend the program, they said that they get to vote on what books they are going to read for next time and that the books they vote are books that they submit.
Overall, I had a good time at this atypical book club and felt like I was included in this group even though I was a newcomer. I left feeling like I had made new friends and got to really dive into the interesting parts of the book rather than just reading off a sheet of pre generated questions. It is a book club that I am definitely considering going back to.
For the discussion, it felt very informal. There were several staff members from the library present but they did not say much in an official capacity. They mainly handled the housekeeping things, such as collecting books at the end of the night and distributing the book that the group had decided on reading for next time. They did have a short introduction, where they welcomed new people and let them know how the discussion worked for this book club. Other than those couple of functions, you would not be able to tell apart the library staff from the regular patrons who were attending. The discussion was more of a small group discussion, where you would talk with the four to six people around you about the book. With that in mind I cannot say how everyone behaved in each group but in my group everyone participated to the discussion. There were good questions asked with only a few questions that had a yes or no answer. Those that were able to be answered simply tended to have a lot of follow up questions that still made them worth discussing. I don’t think that any one person stole the show so to speak. After a while the group I was in began relating the book to real world topics in our life. There was discussion about how people had similar experiences or certain parts resonated with them because of a specific reason. I felt like this book club was more of a gathering of friends that happened to read a book rather than a group of people reading a book who happen to be friendly.
Looking back at the previous books that they have read there appears to be no pattern to what books they read. Sometimes it is a best seller or award winner, other times it is classic, and still others it is a book that I had never heard of. When talking with the patrons that attend the program, they said that they get to vote on what books they are going to read for next time and that the books they vote are books that they submit.
Overall, I had a good time at this atypical book club and felt like I was included in this group even though I was a newcomer. I left feeling like I had made new friends and got to really dive into the interesting parts of the book rather than just reading off a sheet of pre generated questions. It is a book club that I am definitely considering going back to.
I think it's great that part of the library's objective is to help people connect to each other. I like that the overall structure was different than the typical book club. It seems like an effective way to accommodate a large book club. I know of some book clubs that are fairly exclusive, but I see no harm in trying to grow a library-sponsored book club to be as large as possible.
ReplyDeleteIs this a newer book club, or is the marketing new? It sounds like an effective and straightforward approach to giving patrons what they want from a book club - the opportunity to share a common interest and to make new friends. The popularity is impressive. This is the first book club I have heard of that breaks out into small groups. It's great that the library has so many patrons interested in participating. What a great way to build a sense of community.
ReplyDeleteGreat feedback and observations! This sounds a lot like one of the book clubs I manage! Would you go back? Even though the structure was a little different, did it lend itself well to those in attendance? Full points!
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