Wrap up the year with Book Chat
Posted by: Rebecca Vnuk
One of the things I like to do with my book discussion group is reserve the last meeting of the year for our annual “Book Chat”. This is an unstructured discussion that is open to anyone, where the participants come ready to talk about their favortite books of the year. There are many pluses to hosting a book chat versus a regular title-specific discussion:
- Anyone can come, whether they consider themselves a “member” or not
- It takes the pressure off of people at the end of the year/holiday time
- Participants leave with a list of book recommendations
- People LOVE to talk about what they are reading
- It often gives several ideas of books that might make a good discussion for the next year.
The Oak Park (Illinois) Public Library takes this idea one step further, with their Oak Park Readers, a “book lovers’ appreciation society”. Every few months, they hold a Book Chat, or “party”. For libraries without a structured book club, perhaps this might be a good way to gauge interest, or, simply some easy book-centered programming.
