Saturday, March 14, 2015

Reading Together... in a Book-Club

InterWeb, 2015
Book-Club #1
Independent book-club, meetings occur on the first Wednesday of every month; 7-8 p.m. I was lucky enough to be invited into the ending meeting of a seasonal book-club that meets at one of my local public libraries; the group had decided to choose a book that was popular on the New York Times Best Seller List in 2005; a book that I had thankfully & serendipitously already read during that time. I felt a moment to perhaps relive the book again, if for an hour or so.  I attended the wrap-up talk… Ended up almost 3 hours...

This particular book-club is something of a hybrid group in structure; being not directly administered by the public library. However, the club works with the friends of the library to purchase multiple copies of the book title for check-out, for this seasonal & independent program. The book-club itself, at least at this evening meeting, was comprised of 8 women – ages 30 something to 60 something. Because I had already made contact with one of the founders, I felt comfortable & was welcomed in warmly with introductions & nice small talk. One participant nudged that if I keep showing up, I might very well be invited to the seasonal party…

The atmosphere was good. Participants were all very democratic & calm – not interrupting each other. This is an older club that has been active for 5 years, so the core members have a sound functional society. I sat quietly for the first 1—15 minutes or so of the club, a few participants started to bring me into the conversation when they noticed some non-verbal cues etc., participants were very perceptive & recognized even the most subtle atmospheric elements – they could tell when I felt momentarily uncomfortable or if I couldn’t wait to chime in; the 2 core founders were very agile in directing the talk from topic to topic & from person to person…


Book-Club #2
A friend of mine has a kind of book-club which is independent of any library, it is really a personal venture that motivates her friends & inner circle to get together once-in-a-while. Though not officially a public library book-club, the intention is serious & directed; I kinda dub their club as the Too Secretive & Royal Disgruntled Readers’ Guild in jest; she prefers the Evening Sparrows; sounds nice. Point is, book clubs can be either an official public library program or can be an independent culture activity. If we form a private or personal book-club, it is up to us what policy or what framework we will follow; we can be democratic & have a book-club board or we founders can make any hyper-specific group unlimited by imagination; often personal book-clubs can be very defined & organized initiatives, not easily criticized or invited into.


Book-Club Issues
From interviews & my own historical experience in book-clubs, I only have a few cautionary tales that may lead to a flat, annoying or discouraging experience.

Flat= Bored people who really want a support group to just talk about whatever. I would contend that when a good club devolves into fun, random & organic conversation - this is exempt from a flat appraisal.

Annoying= Founders or others try to become fascist dictators, trying to control every aspect of every conversation; sometimes these types will even get annoyed if one steps out for a call or coffee. To some degree, politics will crush the good of the group if not reigned in...

Discouraging= When founding people don’t show up on time for basic groups. The most difficult issue, in my opinion, is when people are too quiet & won’t even try to speak up; it is a delicate issue to decide whether to try to motivate the person – there is a fear we might lose someone if we don’t bring the energy...


The Book-Club World
A delayed synchronicity is the entrance into the book-club life. One has to be patient, forgiving & idealistic about the role of discussing ideas publicly; realizing that shared reading & connecting with others in real life about this reading is whole-heartedly beneficial – even though it may not always be comfortable. The weird or unsavory moments of a good book-club generally only happen when someone gets their feelings hurt because some in the group might not respond to some contributions; I say be brave & move on. In so much as you genuinely want to be in the club & truly want to help add to the discussion, is the extent to which everyone will feel happy, content & challenged in a book-club environment.   

I will always love the idea of the Book Club, the perfect blend of the inclusive & exclusive. In the last decade, the book club has taken a new life in the internet world - where people don't need meet to interchange ideas about books & reading. GoodReads is a top example of a great virtual book-club, if you like. The history of the club is one of a literary & reading society; book-clubs are among the most important programs in any public library. A book-club, beyond assigned reading, can also be a topical & thematic endeavor. I like the idea that book-clubs can be a general group about a genre & not so much about a specific book. How inviting are book clubs? Book-club happens every day, every week & every month.  Open format clubs are always recommended.

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