Book Club Experience

 In this week's reading, Bies (2019) states of book clubs, "The experience of coming to a discussion as a participant is quite different from coming to facilitate...there is a different level of enjoyment, relaxation, and socialization in attending simply to listen and share" (Bies, 2019, p. 22). This is definitely how I felt observing the book club for this assignment. It was such a nice way to spend an afternoon and I learned a lot about what makes a book club successful. 

The book club I attended is the monthly book club program ran at the library where I work. It is led by one of the library assistants in the reference and information department, Amy. There were four attendees, the leader, and myself in attendance. The leader said that usually there are a few more people than that, but the day the book club took place was really windy and cold so that probably kept a few people home. All of the attendees were women and I would estimate that they were all at 55 and older. There were no snacks or drinks provided, and the program took place in the youth program room, which is not its typical location but it had to be moved there due to a tax program that was taking place in the book club’s usual location.

I did not have time to read the book chosen, but it was Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, a work of fiction that is based on a true court case. After hearing the discussion of this book, I am hoping to read it in the future because it sounded really good.  It was interesting to see how the discussion of this book unfolded. Hoffert (2019) states, “Most librarians involved in book clubs insist that the leader should be a facilitator, focusing less on participating themselves than providing background on the book and author, keeping the conversation on track, and formulating questions in advance” (Hoffert, 2019 p. 31). This is exactly the role that the leader of this book club took on.

Amy started with a statement, saying something about how this book is set in the 1970s, which was surprising to her because she can’t believe that the events of the book could have happened so recently. From here, the conversation just exploded, with all the women agreeing and talking about what was going on in their lives when the court case was going on and how it impacts them reading about it now compared to when it was actually happening. After this, it was about 15 minutes before Amy even turned to her question sheet.

The discussion questions were only used when the conversation lulled. She probably only used three or four of the questions on the sheet total, which I really appreciated because it didn’t feel like there was pressure to rush through the discussion in order to get through all the questions. Sometimes, a question would arise from the leader that was not even on the sheet but just based on where the discussion led. Often, the participants would throw in their own questions for the group, which was really great to see.

I was really impressed to see the balance throughout the group. Everyone seemed to contribute to the conversation and nobody seemed to be hogging the attention. They were also respectful when a differing of opinion occurred. There is one portion of the book that discussed a character having an abortion. It was evident that one of the book club members did not care for this section and started to talk about how the character’s actions in the book are related to the regret she felt for making that decision. One of the other group members politely said that they disagreed and justified their own thoughts about the abortion in a respectful way. It was also great to see that the book club leader did not input her opinion one way or the other on that topic and allowed space for both opinions.

Amy stated that the group reads about 2/3 fiction and 1/3 non-fiction. She will sometimes pick a book based on the theme of the month; for example, this book club took place in February, which was Black History month, so she chose a book by a black author. However, she doesn’t disclose this connection to the club members; it’s just a way for her to narrow down the choices. She also tends to choose books that are plot heavy, because these make for the best discussion, and she avoids thrillers and suspense because those don’t generate a lot of discussion. At the end of this session, a lot of the members had suggestions for future reads. She said that she always has suggestion cards out, but there isn’t usually a lot of feedback on selections, so she’s excited to add in some recommendations from the club members.

I could not believe how fast the hour flew by. I saw how a good book club should run through the success of this one, and I feel that this book club is successful due to both the leadership of the facilitator as well as the participation of the group. Through this experience, I am excited to get more involved with book clubs in the future. I think I would first like to join as a participant to get more experience, and then maybe someday I can consider a job where I can lead a club of my own.

 References:

Bies, A. (2019). Making a book discussing your own. ILA Reporter, 38(5), 22-23. 

Hoffert, B. (2019). The book club experience. Library Journal, 144(3), 30-33. 

30–33.