What is a Book Group?
A gathering of people who meet once a month or so for one of the following reasons:

• The possibility of meeting kindred spirits
• Social interaction – breaking into a new area/location
• An escape from the negative parts of the daily reality they face, be that overwhelming work demands, cranky toddlers, or boredom
• Tuition-free intellectual stimulation
• Intellectual stimulation without the formality & process of an educational institution

Have I mentioned books yet? Perhaps I should say a Book Group is two or more people gathered to discuss a book they’ve read hoping that collectively they’ll discover things about it they may have missed on their own.

So you want to start a Book Group
So what type of book group does your library run, or hope to run?
Who are you trying to reach? What do people want to read?
Do members want to read just one book a month?
Can the Library afford to offer multiple copies of the same book?
Is it a recent release, best seller, readily available, lots of reserves, etc.
Would it be better to read on a theme?
Should you read books that are related somehow e.g., The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984 or Map of the World and The Good Mother.? This may be less of a burden than you think and sets up automatic comparisons and contrasts between the work that different writers do.
Read books of a particular author, with the author changing each time?
Read from a particular genre e.g. Science Fiction, poetry?
Fiction versus non-fiction?
Questions - Questions - Questions
There are a lot of different types of book groups, after all variety is the spice of life. But what type is right for your library? Each book group is unique, and library staff need to determine what works best for their situation.

This is where you need to set out your library’s objectives.
Why do you want a book group? Who do you want to come along?
What resources can your library offer?
The objectives answer why you want, or better yet, need a book group at your library. It’s how you sell the idea to ‘management’. It is how you justify the running of a book group. It doesn’t really matter if you choose to have a book group for the collective good of the community (social inclusion), or because it’s a great way to bring people into the library, as long as you have a better reason than “well … everyone else has one” Answering the ‘Why’ question then puts you onto the right track for the rest of your book group plan or program. When you have worked out why, start thinking about who, what, when, where and how.

Consider a service to existing book groups
Running a book group in the library can seem like a lot of work for the benefit of a small group of people. Some libraries run a service that provides tubs of books for existing groups and groups that form specifically for the service. Commercial book group services are expensive and libraries can charge for their service and still be a much cheaper alternative. At the Riverina Regional Library it works as follows: Each group member must be a member of the library which increases the library's memberships. The groups have a maximum of 10 members and pay $350 per year, this works out at $3.50 per member, per month. Each month the groups receive a tub with 10 copies of 1 title, background notes about the author and book and suggested discussion questions. The service runs for 10 months in the year.

Promoting a Book Group
Once you have worked out the details of your book group, you then need to consider how.
How do you get people to come along? Obviously you have to advertise. What are your options?
Flyers – hand out when people borrow books. Consider putting them in other places such as Clubhouses, Bookstores etc.
Posters - in the Library or other relevant places
Newsletters – Library, Council, Clubs, Schools
Mail outs to library members, including email and SMS messaging systems. Conduct a survey to see who is interested
Advertise in the local paper – can you get editorial? Do you want it? Do you have in-house advertising, with eyecatching notes on date-due slips, webcats or stationery? Do you have on-hold messages for the phone?
Website – Council/Library or links to other websites
Word of Mouth – can you rely on it?


Resources Available
Some websites that are helpful: -


http://www.strl.nsw.gov.au/reading_groups.htm
http://www.nla.gov.au/libraries/resource/bookclub.html
http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/info/reader/clubs


Some publishers now have websites for book groups using their publications

http://www.allenandunwin.com/readinggroups/readinggroups.asp
http://www.harpercollins.com.au/newsletters/readinggroups/readonline/bookgroup.htm
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/Books/Default.aspx?Page=ReadingNotes


http://www.cae.edu.au/?infosection=bookgroups ‘How do CAE Book Groups work? CAE Book Groups meet together once a month for discussion. Our groups must have between 8 and 15 members. They meet in their homes, or in public libraries, or neighbourhood houses, or cafes… There are no tutors, there is no written work – the groups are self-directed. A set of books, carefully boxed, is sent to each group once a month on loan. Groups nominate a Secretary responsible for organising the receipt and return of boxes to CAE. Groups choose their books from our catalogue which lists over 1,000 briefly annotated titles, ranging from the latest prizewinners and contemporary fiction to the classics, biography and autobiography, history, politics, social issues, philosophy, and a large collection of art titles complete with slides. New titles are added every year. The CAE Book Group Book helps you get the most out of your group. It covers topics such as reading critically, focusing discussion and the all important matter of group dynamics.’