Book Club Experience

    I attended a book club at a library in a near-by town. It was the only book-club in the area that didn't conflict with my work schedule! 

    This book club was a little unusual in that the group shares books that they have enjoyed reading in the last month - it's not a book-club where everyone reads the same book. On the one hand, this was nice for me since I don't have a lot of free time between school and work (so I didn't have another assigned book to read!). On the other hand, it didn't give me a chance to see some of the things I did want to experience in terms of leading a book club discussion, like how the facilitator starts the conversation, and what kinds of questions they ask the members. 

    Upon my arrival I saw that the tables were arranged in a large square so members could sit facing each other. There were some light refreshments on a side table. There was an also a print-out that the facilitator prepared ahead of time. That print-out included summaries from the members about the books they were going to talk about. The facilitator asks for information from the members about a week before the event so she can prepare this document. There were also pencils so members could take notes.

    There were about twelve people in the group, and most of these were regulars, so they knew how things were run. The group members take turns talking about books they have read in the past month. The facilitator chose someone to start and asked each person to say their name and then talk about their books. In some cases the person had a copy of the book with them, and in other cases they didn't. People took turns and went in order around the tables. The facilitator did not start by reminding us of  any rules of order, but everyone seemed to follow the pattern set out by the first speaker. I was able to find the printed version of what they said in some cases (not everyone turns in material ahead of time). I also jotted down titles that sounded interesting as they talked. There wasn't very much discussion because usually only one person had read the particular book. However, in some cases others had also read the book. They still didn't do much cross-table talking. Sometimes someone would ask a question or make a comment, but more often when it was a person's turn he or she would then also make a comment about an earlier book that was discussed.

    What I liked about this was that no one dominated the conversation - everyone took a turn to talk and share about books. I liked walking away with more good books to read (as if my TBR list isn't long enough!). The people were friendly. They greeted me and I felt welcome. The second time I went there was a new person and she really didn't seem to like the group and said that when it was her turn to talk. I'm not sure what she was hoping for, but she said it was too formal. Maybe she wanted more discussion. It was odd since she also hadn't read a book and didn't share anything. I also liked that there was a wide variety of books discussed. Some people were reading biographies, some mysteries and thrillers, some non-fiction books about relevant topics today. We talked some about movies related to some of the books as well.

    What I didn't like as much was that there wasn't very much discussion. Sometimes people would engage a little about a book several people had read, but I think they were very careful not to take over the conversation. I appreciated that, but I think there is value to those intense discussions. In our readings for this week they talk about how good those discussions can be (though Prof. Cataldi shared some examples of some pretty awkward discussions!). I did ask questions about some of the books - mostly clarifying questions - and I felt like that was perfectly welcomed. 

    Overall, I like this book club. I would like to attend one where everyone talks about the same book - I'll have to figure out how to do that when it doesn't conflict with my work schedule. I would like to lead a book discussion, though I know that's a little daunting. I do think the facilitator has to let the group discuss and only speak up or ask questions to get the group back on track or when no one is talking, and to keep over-talkers in check. I went to a seminar last year where the presenter was explaining how you can lead a book club and not have read the book. I thought that it made sense. If you are just facilitating, then really any question can be brought to the group and doesn't require a librarian to answer. Though I think it would be more fun for the facilitator to have also read the book (and that brings up the question of how to choose the book, which was also discussed in our readings - there are several different models for this).