Tips for Starting a Book Club
August 27, 2016
Book clubs are a great excuse to get together with friends on a regular basis and enjoy each other’s company, opinions, and conversations. Want to get this going with your group of friends and/or family but don’t know where to get started? Check out these tips and you’ll be meeting to discuss your first book in no time!
- Find members! Ask your friends. Or post flyers in the library or local bookstore, where you work out, at the day care center, during parent-teacher night, or at work. And use social media.  Facebook and Twitter, among many others, are great ways to get the word out and find interested participants.
- Decide how often to meet. Meeting once a month is typical, but it all depends on your members. Some listeners find that they are able to get through an audiobook much more quickly than a traditional book and can increase the number of meetings and titles.
- Ask members to come prepared with a like or dislike, or email a theme for discussion to the group ahead of time, so they are not caught off guard.
- Help get the conversation started with these sample questions. Give everyone copies of the questions so they can contribute to the conversation.
- Pick a group leader for each meeting – someone to moderate discussion. Share responsibility by assigning a new leader every few meetings.
- Some suggestions to get started are here.
- Book club meetings can vary in length of time. Plan for two hours but don’t be surprised if it goes longer or shorter.
- Most importantly, have fun! Switch the location, arrange a potluck dinner, have guest speakers, create themes around the title, make each meeting something to look forward to.