Book Club Experience

    The book club I chose to attend was, actually, the one that I run at my branch! I just started

the book club this year, and we meet every second Monday of the month, every month, from 5

to about 6 p.m.

    Our book club meets in the community room. Chairs are set up around a horseshoe of tables so that we can see each other and have open conversation. As of right now we do not provide snacks, but I am hoping to use branch funds in the future to provide some food for everyone who comes! We had a call-out meeting in January that invited any patrons interested to come and chat about potential books, reading goals for the year, and goals for the book club. For the first actual discussion in February (in order to get the group started) I chose our first book: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Indianapolis Public Library offers book kits, which are bags full of 10 of the same title along with a discussion guide for patrons (or staff) to check out and use for book clubs. This makes things easier for me and the patrons – I have the book we will be reading and I can give them copies instead of them having to search for their own. At the callout meeting I gave them copies of Morrison's book to be read before the February meeting.

During this past meeting we discussed Morrison’s novel. While I had a few questions and quotes ready to go, the discussion really was shaped around what the participants brought up to talk about. So, while I do ask them questions when the discussion dies down, the conversation is steady and fruitful. If I ask a question, which is always open-ended, I try to provide a brief response before inviting them to answer. If it is more of a "difficult" or "complex" question, such as how they interpreted certain characters/symbols or the author's writing style, I might offer up a few examples or scenes they might remember and want to discuss. Luckily, all of the patrons who participate in the club are willing to discuss the book and do not require me to keep talking to fill the silence. One participant at the February meeting actually shared her own story about growing up in America as a young black woman, allowing me and the other participant to have a learning experience and real-life application of Morrison’s novel, which is at its heart about being a black girl. One other patron also brought up a lot of fresh interpretations I myself did not catch while reading -- she pointed out that one character's relationship with their cat is more symbolic than I had understood it to be. I was so impressed and thanked her for being such a close reader! Only two patrons came to this February meeting, but I anticipate the group growing in size as more and more of our regulars hear about it and schedules start aligning (unfortunately, one patron could not make it due to a death in the family, and another missed due to illness),

I try my best to let the discussion follow a natural course; I always hated being in school and listening to the teacher ask a million questions, begging someone to talk. I also try my best to be mindful and not offer my subjective opinion unless asked. For example, during our February meeting, I opened the discussion by asking what everyone thought of the novel. I did not provide my own opinion until one patron (a few minutes later) asked me what I had thought about what we read!

At the end of every book club meeting, I hand out surveys for the patrons to fill out and also give them information about the next meeting. I give them a list of three books to vote on; the winner is the book that gets handed out to be read for next month. (along with a copy of next month’s title as well). The genres we tend to discuss are all patron driven – this next meeting will be on a mystery, one of the genres that was requested by a patron at the original call out meeting. We will be reading Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None! It is my first time reading an Agatha Christie book, and I am really excited to meet this month with them to discuss it. I am anticipating a much larger group this time around, yay!