Open or themed book clubs are a format where participants have not necessarily read the same item. The meetings may operate around a set theme, or people may discuss anything they have read recently.
In July 2016 there was a survey of libraries across NSW about their open book club programs.
Responses were received from:
Names for these Book Clubs
Between the Sheets Bookgroup
BookChat
Night Time Book Club
Bring-along-a-book
Coffee & Chat Hour
Casino Library Readers Group
Coffee, Books & Chat
First Friday Book Chat
Manly Library Book Discussion Group
Queanbeyan Reading Circle
Third Thursday Book Club
Third Wednesday Book Club
Is the group facilitated?
The majority of these libraries have staff facilitated groups. One is facilitated by a volunteer, and one is group facilitated.
Average attendance
between 5 - 8: 5 libraries,between 10 - 15: 5 libraries
Are Bookings Required?
Only one library asks for bookings, but they are not compulsory
Italic Text
9 out of 10 libraries set themes for discussion.
Themes have included:
Fairy tale retellings
ugly covers
HSC reads
murder and crime
food
fashion
winter warmers
spring into a book
Chill out books
Ebooks
ANZAC stories
Lost in space
The World of Science Fiction
Inspiring stories
Armchair travel
Books that take you to another place
Cover art
My reading journey
Flawed characters
Love ‘em or hate ‘em.
Classic Crime
The year in review
rainbow reads to match up with the gay and lesbian mardi gras (But rainbow can be taken in colour, change, differences - very many different ways)
Manly Library's themes are available at http://www.manly.nsw.gov.au/library/book-group/
Does the Library provide any catering?
Most libraries provide tea, coffee and biscuits, but some of the book clubs bring along their own refreshments. A few libraries discontinued catering because the groups did not require it.
Other tips and ideas from survey respondents
I tend to start with myself talking about any books I've read then go around the group asking each person to share what they have read, after that they tend to just chat about movies, travel, music, and a whole range of other topics, I usually spend about an hour with the group then leave them to it, sometimes they all leave after the hour but at other times they stay and chat or sometimes they go out for lunch or coffee
I like to keep reviews to 5-10 mins and people are welcome to continue discussions after the meeting has finished. Politics and religion are always problem areas so I try to curb any potential conflicts!
We have a very keen member of our group who absolutely loves to talk about her books – the only problem is she completely dominates the group so I usually ask her to speak last in order to give the others a chance to get a word in!
The hardest part is that some people reveal too much about a book or might talk for too long about their book or even for a personality to be really dominant so it is good to have staff there
We all have a great time – I usually take notes and plan on making bookmarks with our Readers Group monthly recommendations on them.
As the meeting goes on the Library assistants there take note of who has read what titles and the authors and at the end we send out an email with the list of books that have been read.
We produce a monthly newsletter of what was discussed at each meeting, and encourage members to write reviews for us for our webpage.
Also as part of the group they get to see some of the new stock before it goes out for loan, I always try to have between 20-30 brand new titles for them to choose from, I find this makes them feel a little special and they like being able to have access to new stock before anyone else and we used this as a draw card when we were setting up the book group all those years ago.
A recurring comment, is that they enjoyed the book from the suggested reading list, but would never have picked it otherwise. The theme pushes them in new directions for reading choices.