Book club experience

The Elkhart Public Library holds a book club meeting at the Main Library once a month. The book for the month of February was “The Life of Galileo” by Bertolt Brecht. I listened to the book in audiobook format so that when I attended the book club meeting I knew what they were discussing. It appeared that the members that attended the meeting had been regular members. I got this impression from the conversations before the meeting started. They discussed previous books and experiences.

Previous books were chosen from a list that was provided through Indiana’s Humanities. The group had changed to choosing their own books based on recommendations by members. By choosing this route it has led to a shortage of available books in one location. Fortunately, the library is able to borrow books through Interlibrary Loan. Members were asked to start thinking about titles for the end of the year. They would discuss them at the next meeting and vote on which ones to read. From the conversation about previous books it appeared that not all of the books were fiction. The book about Galileo was actually a play.  

There is a leader of the group (former employee) Maryann. Maryann started the book club meetings as an employee but continued to run the group when she retired. The group did not start with a list of questions they started talking about what they thought of the book. Maryann did ask questions ask questions when the conversation began to sway away from the book. The questions were open ended so that a discussion could take place. Maryann took an active part in the conversation sharing her thoughts about the book also.

Not all of the participants spoke during the conversations. There were 3 members who took most of the spotlight talking about what they thought. One participant took the lead the most. She at times cut off others as they were talking. Maryann would try to bring the conversation back to where others could speak but it appeared to be an ongoing process that would happen at each meeting. I did enjoy another member’s initiative to bring other books that had further information on Galileo. She brought a juvenile book that had photos and simple text plus another adult book that had information and a timeline of events. This information provided a better understanding of Galileo.

A current staff member brought cake and coffee about a half hour into the meeting. I do not know if the library provides these items or just gathers them. It did not look like food was the main reason why members were there. Only 2 people opted to eat the cake. Depending on the library’s budget, providing drinks and a snack should be served at the meetings. From experience people enjoy talking over food.

According to the recommendations from ALA “sending out monthly reminders” will help keep members in touch. The members at this meeting were updating the list of emails so that reminders could go continue to go out. The ALA page also discussed what amount of members to have at the book club meetings. This group has about 9 members which is between the recommended numbers of 8-16.

After attending this book group, which was my first one, I decided that I would like to attend ones in the future. However, I am unable to do find the time to do so now. For those who have a love of reading and would like to share what their thoughts are or just the emotions they get from books, a book club is one way for them to do this.

American Library Association. (n.d.). Starting a Book Club. Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://www.ilovelibraries.org/booklovers/bookclub