My Thoughts: This session was a great resource for book discussion clubs in libraries. I thought that there were some great ideas discussed concerning the leading of book clubs, dealing with group dynamics, author and book suggestions, and for different types of book clubs. I liked the idea of a thematic mystery book discussion club and a group that talks about what they have read in the past two months. I was also very interested in the sample generic questions that Nancy and the audience mentioned, and I can’t wait to try using them with our book discussion club at my library!
Session Notes:
General: You will never please everyone, and people come to share; sit down & create a list of rules/guidelines; private vs. library book clubs (more diversity at library); can spend some time (15min) to settle in/catch up and then leader gets the club going; what to do with people that don’t read the book and come: it is great that you came (encourage people to come) but we WILL talk about the books ending, best book discussions take place when some liked & disliked the book (when people say that they didn’t come because they didn’t like it, we should encourage them to come anyway!); don’t start your discussion with, “What did you think about the book?” (Ask this question last!), polarizes people between liking and disliking.
Best Practices: 1 per month, use a standard day (3rd Tues of each month), 10-15 people is optimum size (want to avoid less than 5), empower the club (Nancy does not think that the leader has to be the librarian. We can empower attendees by making them the leader(s)).
Purpose of a Book Club: Read & Discover new books and explore things that you may not have thought about when reading it yourself.
Good generic starting questions: What is the meaning of the title? Significance to the story?; What if the author had chosen to tell the story from another character’s perspective?; Which character did you like the best/identify with most? Which character seemed the most real to you, best developed?; What did you think the author wanted us to get from this book?; How would you have rewritten the ending? Ask the group to come to the session with one question about the book that they want answered.
Great Authors & Books for Book Clubs That Were Mentioned: “The Things They Carried”, Tim Obrien; “A Lesson Before Dying”; “Angel of Repose”, Wallace Stegner; “The Dive From Claussen’s Pier”; “A Thread of Grace”, Maria Doria Russell; “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down”, Ann Fadiman; “Beloved”, Toni Morrison; “In The Lake of the Woods” Tim Obrien; “The Disapparition of James”, Anne Ursu; “When the Emperor Was Divine”, Julie Ostuka, “She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders”, Jennifer Finney Blylan; “Middlesex”, Jeffrey Eugenides; “Feed”, M.T. Anderson; “A Dangerous Friend”, Ward Just; “Persepolis”, Marjane Satrapi; “My Antonia”, Willa Cather; “The Sweet Hereafter”, Russell Bank, “Atonement”, Ian McEwan.
Leader Responsibilities: Deals with group dynamics and keeping the discussion going.
-If person who dominates the conversation: try to sit with them next to you, touch their arm when they start to dominate and politely ask them to let someone else speak/share. Another tip from audience: don’t make eye contact until it is that persons turn to speak.
-Advises changing/rotating leaders and empowering attendees to take turns leading.
Group Dynamics: One person tends to dominate (unknowingly) the conversations; one person needs space to speak (won’t interrupt others, etc…), ask them for their input!; silence is ok – it gives people time to think and respond (they will respond!)
Choosing Books:
-Choose Books that have ambiguous endings
-Best Books are the ones where the author doesn’t tell you everything
-Mini-Themes (Middle East, Africa, etc…)
-Using the label “Classics” can deter people, not necessarily a good label.
-Mystery Book Clubs can be difficult, Sci-Fi offers a lot to talk about
Book Club Themes/Ideas:
-Topical Mystery Booklists (Culinary Mysteries) – People read books from a list/theme and come together to discuss them later.
-Book Review Discussion Club – People read whatever they want for 2 months and then come together to discuss what they have read and liked.
-Some libraries create book club collections (purchase 25 paperbacks and include additional info. Like read-alikes, author interviews, etc…)
Showing posts with label book groups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book groups. Show all posts
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Nancy Pearl
The care & feeding of Book Groups
Meet once a month
Pick a day – like second Monday of the month and stick to it
10-15 members – if larger then not everyone will have a chance to speak
Don’t have a book group smaller than 5
Remember: A book group is
5 “don’ts” and 2 ‘dos” for book groups
“Don’ts”
1. Select a story-driven books
The best books for discussion are ones where the author does not tell you everything. Need to look for books in which the ending is ambiguous. Or the main character makes a decision that will please many people or infuriate many people. Remember that any book a person hasn’t read is new to them.
2. opt to have meetings without a leader
The responsibility of a book group leader
Not necessarily the librarian
Help people feel empowered
Leader deal with group dynamics
Leader keeps the discussion going
Many may not want to lead because of the research behind the job. It is not necessary to look at reviews- it does not matter what anyone but the group. The leader may look for some information on the author but only where it pertains to the story. Any knowledge should not be announced upon beginning of the meeting. It should flow during the discussion if it fits the discussion. To take some pressure off the leader you can have each member come to the group with one question that they want answered. The possible to rotate leaders works well too. This allows for a different perspective and less responsibility on one person.
A leader or group needs to develop some rules by analyzing what has worked and not worked in the past. A balance must be established.
3. Go around the circle and ask for everyone’s ideas
This may put too much pressure on someone to come up with an educated answer. They won’t speak from their heart.
Reluctant Speakers
Most members can take a couple of moments to find an answer
Some may take much longer to decide what to say
And they may not like to interrupt someone’s when they are talking
Notice the body language when some one wants to speak
Leaning forward, opening their mouth
Call on them when you see this, otherwise they will not make their ideas heard
Those who talk toooooo much
One person dominates the conversation
It is hard fro members of the group to confront that person
Leader sits with dominate person to their right if the leader is right handed
Allow that person to speak once
The next time they speak the leader should stop the person, lets let some one else talk by gently touching their arm.
4. begin with the question “ What did you think of the book?”
It forces people to take sides
Examples of better beginning questions:
What is the significance of the title?
What if the author had chosen to tell it from a different characters point of view?
Which character seemed the most real? Best developed?
What do you think the author wanted us to get from this book?
How would you rewrite the ending?
Members should:
Participate
Listen
Read books you might not enjoy
What do you do with people who never read the book?
This is not that big of deal
In fact discussion may intrigued them to read the book
What if your members hate the book
Many may not attend the meeting
Yet, the best discussion take place when some enjoy and some dislike the book
Encourage them to come, whether they like it or not
5. Choose books on a month-by month basis
One meeting should be dedicated for choosing all books for the group for six months or a year in advance. You may choose themes. You can choose a variety of fiction and nonfiction. Ex.
“Dos’
1. Enjoy the experience of reading new books an discussing them
Reasons for being in a book group
To read and discover new books
Have opportunity to explore these books in different ways
2. Recognize the importance of silence
Don’t worry about a small amounts of time (it feels longer than it truly is)
Some one will always answer…(
Realize that these questions are making people think…
You need to give them that time to think
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