How to Have a Book Club

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By Joan Haines
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A book club brings friends and fun!

A book club is where book lovers unite! After reading a book, we can share our inspirations and insights with kindred bibliophiles in a book club. There are many things to consider and plan when starting a book club of your own. Read on.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Grab a book loving friend:

Start the book club with the help of a like-minded friend who can help you. Or, don’t start a new group at all. Sometimes, you don’t need to start your own group. Check with your local library or bookstore to see if they already have a group that you can join.
Step 2

Decide in general what your book club will be like:

Will you specialize in a certain genre: Sci-fi, chick-lit, mystery, nonfiction? Or, will you want a wide variety of reading?
Step 3

Who will be in it:

Choose people who are bibliophiles (book lovers) and will be sure to read the books and show up to your book club meetings.
Most groups find that limiting the group to 8 to 12 members is optimum. Make a policy for inviting and accepting new members.
Step 4

Where and how often to meet:

Most book clubs find that meeting once a month is ideal. Contact your local library or bookstore to see if they have a space for you. Perhaps you’d rather rotate meetings in each member’s home. Maybe you’d like to congregate at a restaurant. (Check with the management about taking up table space long enough for your book club discussion.)
Step 5

Choosing and getting the books:

Will you decide on a year’s worth of reading at a time? Will each member get to choose a book? Will you depend on a reading list from the library (librarians love to help!) or Oprah’s book list?
In any case, you can borrow multiple copies of many books for free at the library. If you ask, books can be put on hold for you, and rounded up from several libraries so you’ll have many copies. Sometimes, due dates can be extended if you ask.
If you decide to buy books, put one person in charge of ordering the books in advance, so you can get all the copies you need.
Step 6

Facilitate discussion:

Choose a format that gives your group some consistent structure, yet allows for creativity, flexibility, and fun. This format can be decided upon by the group.
Decide on who will facilitate the discussions. Also, make some simple ground rules. For instance, only one person speaks at a time during discussion, and all comments during discussion must be related to the text.
Discussion guides can be found at libraries, bookstores, and on the internet, and sometimes, in the back of the book itself. Some groups have members take turns making up discussion questions.
Step 7

For extra fun:

Invite local authors to come speak with your book club members, or perhaps do a conference call on speaker phone. Have a used book swap or bookmark exchange every so often. Bring refreshments to share. Volunteer together to help your local Friends of the Library, or to read to children at an after school program.