ILA presentation 10/14/14

1. The Care &
Feeding of
Book Clubs
Tish Calhamer--Gail Borden Public Library
Lynnanne Pearson--Skokie Public Library
Carol Shoenthal--Bartlett Public Library

2. Why are Book Clubs Necessary?

3. Strengthen
community ties

4. Through engagement with reading and discussion, book clubs:
● introduce people of varied backgrounds whose paths might not have crossed
● build trust and understanding between fellow readers, who are all part of the
whole community
● support their public libraries--Book Clubs participants are some of the
greatest library advocates you can cultivate!
● add to everyone’s enrichment and understanding of literature
● encourage community building through the sharing of personal stories
● may lead to participants becoming involved with other local groups and being
more active in the community

5. Promote literacy

6. Book Clubs
● challenge readers to read a book that may be
outside of their regular reading tastes
● motivate readers to finish a common book by a
select date
● encourage active use of the public library
● encourage members to read and suggest titles
they read independently
● reinforce the habit of reading for pleasure

7. Helping your book clubs to succeed

8. Develop library resources and services for book clubs
● Advise clubs on good, discussable books
● Buy or ILL multiple copies of books
● Write discussion questions or link to sites with good
questions
● Establish Book Club Collections

9. What is a good, discussible title candidate?
● At least 2 years old if planning to ILL
● Consider length of book
○ 500+ page titles may not be completed - gauge your
group or make it a 2-month read
● An enjoyable reading experience does not always
lead to a good discussion title
○ It doesn’t have to be painful or depressing, but it
needs to have “tooth”

10. Use Social Media
● Use Pinterest to create book
discussion boards
● Use #bookdiscussion for tweets
about your picks.
● Use Skype to have a virtual
author visit

11. Book Club meet-and-greets

12. Author Visits

13. Writing Good Discussion Questions
● Turn your opinions into questions
● Edit publishers questions so they’re short
● Ask open-ended questions
● Focus questions on themes and characters not plot
● Select your first question beforehand.
● Never ask “What did you think of the book?”
● Prep enough questions (10-20) so you feel comfortable
o Don’t force the discussion to get to every question
● Group questions by subject, theme or characters

14. The Leader/Reader dynamic

15. Leading with style
● Analyze your book discussion leadership style: Are you
a leader, a member, a facilitator, or a professor?
● Strike the balance between leading/guiding and letting
your readers come up with their own insights and
observations.
● Avoid the temptation to “teach” the book.
● Use phrases of encouragement to lead a thread without
dominating it.

16. Discussion
Stoppers

17. Member who can’t stop “contributing”
Wait until they take a breath and say...
● “You’ve made an interesting point about X. What
does everyone else think?
● “Let’s hear from someone who hasn’t had a chance
to tak. What do you think of X?”
● “Hang on, so-and-so was saying something. Let’s
hear her finish”

18. Member who uses any opening to carry discussion off topic
Wait until they take a breath and say…
● “Thanks for sharing. Let’s get back to the book.”
And/Or
● Build in time to exchange personal stories and gab at the beginning or end
of the discussion
Let Me Tell
You About
My
Grandchildre
n!

19. Shy People
● Pay attention to body language. Sometimes quiet
people won’t jump in, but want to talk.
● Observe the room and be prepared to draw the shy
people in by calling directly on them.
o I’ve noticed that you’ve been quiet (insert name
here), what did you think of X?

20. Introduce the “Talk About”
● Begin session by going around the circle
● Each member comments briefly (<minute) on reaction
to book and 1-2 points
o Just don’t open with “What did you think of the book?”
● Open discussion is fueled by points raised
● Ice is broken for reticent members making them more
likely to contribute

21. Shy Group
If the whole group is quiet…
● Don’t be afraid of silence. Sometimes people need
time to formulate their thoughts.
● But don’t answer your own questions or allow the
discussion to become a Q & A with you. If the
group asks you questions, turn it around: “Wow,
that’s a great question. What do you folks think?”
● Try a smaller room. It will be more intimate for your
members.

22. When talk becomes heated
● “There obviously are strong
opinions about this topic, but I
don’t think we’ll come to an
agreement today. Let’s move
on to…”
● Stop anyone who makes
offensive remarks.

23. Fixing a Group

24. One librarian’s
story of what
went wrong
and how she
tried to fix it

25. Once Upon a Time…

26. So What Happened?

27. With apologies to Elvis
We're caught in a trap, but we can’t walk out
Because I love you too much, book discussions.

28. Time

29. Classroom

31. Boredom

32. Time to shake things up!

33. Goals of Shake-Up
• Engaged, respectful conversations
• Diversity in book selection
• Diversity in discussion participants
• Reasonable amount of staff time expended
• Engaged, enthusiastic discussion leaders

35. What to change
• Change books discussed
• Change when meetings are held
• Change where meetings are held
• Change frequency of meetings

36. Changes made

37. Branded Groups
Chapters
Reads literary favorites, award-winners,
and thought-provoking nonfiction.
Top Shelf
Reads popular recent fiction and
under-the-radar gems

38. Retraining Staff

39. Patrons’ Reactions

40. Lessons learned
• Change is hard
(duh)
• Have a plan and believe in your plan
• Be flexible with plan and modify as year
goes on
• Don’t be afraid to experiment!

41. Breaking
the Book
Discussion
Mold

42. Location,
Location,
Location

43. LitLounge
• Monthly group
• Meets in a bar
• Reads hipper books
• Skokie Public Library and Morton Grove Public
Library in partnership

44. Other Barfly Book Discussions
• Genre X from Oak Park Public Library
• Book Lovers Club from Berwyn Public Library
• Books on Tap from Northbrook Public Library
• Books & Brews from the Ela Area Public Library

45. Science Park Book Discussion
• Meets at Searle Science Park In Skokie
• Quarterly lunch time book discussion
• For employees of this Park
• Reads a mix of fiction and nonfiction

46. Senior Centers: opportunities for service
Book Talks delivered with a selection of titles
Select a variety of genres
■ Ask! Do not guess what would appeal to seniors – they’ll surprise
you
■ Leave genre/title/author suggestion forms
Vary the format
■ Large print
■ Audio books
Keep it brief or you’ll lose them!
■ Be clear and concise
■ Slow down and enunciate
Deliver fewer titles more frequently
■ Gives feedback on what circulates
■ Reduces loss

47. Building resident-led discussions
● Encourage
○ Explore genre options with group at the start
○ Cover the suggestions for selecting discussible titles
● Facilitate
○ Provide list of successful titles that meet their genre
○ Offer to ILL titles for them
○ Provide discussion questions if desired
○ Offer to have a librarian train them or to do a book talk

48. Change what you read

49. Pages Through History

50. Down to Business
• Quarterly discussion group
• Led by Business Librarian for business community
• Reads business books

51. Trashy Book Club

52. Culinary Clubs & Cookbook Discussion Groups
• Cookbook Club of LaGrange
Public Library
• Culinary Book Discussion Group
of the St. Louis Library
• Cookbook Book Club of Massillon
Public Library, OH

53. Other Ideas to Try
• “Real Stories”
–Biography/Memoirs, narrative nonfiction,
microhistories, etc.
• YA for adults
• Doorstop Discussions
• Book/Movie Discussion Groups
• Intergenerational discussions

54. One Book, One Community Programs

55. One Book, One Community Programs
• Apply for the official NEA “Big Read” grant
• Develop your own local, grassroots community
reading event
• Partnering is the key to success
• Choose a title or topic that will involve all ages
and backgrounds

56. Big Reads: Go Big & Go Out Into Your Community

57. Hispanic Heritage Month bilingual book discussion
2 languages + 2 cultures + 1 book = 1 wonderful, insightful discussion:

58. Coming Together in Skokie

59. What is it
• Exploring a culture through one common book
• 6 week program
• Events are held at different locations throughout
Skokie
• Events allow for further engagement and
education about the culture

60. Every CTIS has:
• Big Kick-off event in late January
• Authors visits in late February/early March
• Program booklet
• Book discussions
• Multi-civic agencies collaboration

61. Book Selection
• Living author
• Author able to travel to library and schools
• Author from chosen culture
• Needs to appeal to broader readership
• Needs to be discussable
• 300-400 pg in paperback

62. Let’s kickstart some ideas! Q & A
1. What are some great ideas for book clubs that your library
already does?
2. What are some fabulous things for book clubs you wish
you could do?

63. Contact us @:
Tish Calhamer
Gail Borden Public Library
tcalhamer@gailborden.info
847-289-5838
Lynnanne Pearson
Skokie Public Library
lpearson@skokielibrary.info
847-324-3177
Carol Shoenthal
Bartlett Public Library District
cshoenthal@bartlettlibrary.org
630-837-5002
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