Things You'll Need:
- Space to meet
- Method to lure members
- Books
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Step 1
If you plan on only having a few people over, you might want to consider starting the club in your home. Other suitable locations include coffee houses, libraries and book stores. A great location within the city limits of Council Bluffs is Scooter's Coffehouse. Or you can contact the Council Bluffs Public Library to reserve a spot for a recurring book club.
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Step 2
Invite your friends to join the book club. If you would rather open up membership to a variety of people, you'll need to advertise to get the word out about your new group. Local television stations will run an ad for you if there is available space, and you can also contact the Omaha City Weekly to see if they will put a blurb in the paper for free. The Omaha World Herald sometimes accepts stories about new groups forming within the Omaha/Council Bluffs area for their City Connection section. Putting fliers up in local coffee houses is also a good idea.
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Step 3
Decide on the genre of books you want to read. Do you want to run the entire group, including choosing the books and the scheduling of meetings, or would you rather leave this all up to a group vote? Knowing what type of books you'll read and the role of group leaders will make the meetings run more smoothly.
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Step 4
Contact local authors to come join discussions about their work. This will not only lure more members to your group, but it will also appeal to the authors who want to make a name for themselves within the area. Check the Omaha World Herald's Entertainment section to find out about local authors. If you can find a book-signing event near the city, you may be able to chat with the author and convince him to visit your group.
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Step 5
If you try to start a book club without much success, contact a leader of another local book club to get some advice about spurring interest. Find information regarding local book clubs at the library or at one of the local bookstores within the city, such as the Barnes & Noble located in the Mall of the Bluffs.
