So you want to start a book club?
Here are some tips that we've gathered to help your club run smoothly.
Consider the following:
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Meetings:
- Where? When? How long? How often?
- There are many places that offer free space to hold your meetings, like the library, coffee shops, restaurants, and of course, a living room.
- You should schedule meetings ahead of time to avoid having to do this at each meeting; it also allows you to choose titles well in advance to ensure members have enough time to read the books.
- Will you meet monthly, bi-monthly or even bi-weekly?
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Size:
- How many members will you have? The size of your meeting space will dictate the maximum number of participants you can accommodate, but you can choose to have only 6-8, if you prefer.
- Remember that the less members in your book club limits the variety of responses you will get and the amount of discussion that will be generated.
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Membership:
- You may choose to invite only friends, family and coworkers or you can advertise for members at your local library, in coffee shops, or even in the newspaper or a local television station that runs public ads.
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Style:
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Book Selection:
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Atmosphere:
- Will you serve food, play music or bring props that are reminiscent of the book that will be discussed?