Tips for Starting a Book Club

Tips for Starting a Book Club

Starting a book club can be rewarding. Here’s how to begin:

1. Find your people! Post in local Facebook groups (like a group for moms in your area) or ask coworkers, people at your gym, or even moms at your child’s school!  I created one group from my daughter’s girl scout troop moms and it spread from there (I will post the sample email below).  Usually around 8 people is best to not have to separate into smaller groups each time for quality discussion but to have enough so that if 2 people can’t attend it’s not a big deal.
2. Set a regular meeting schedule. For example, every third Tuesday, every second Sunday evening, etc. You can also choose to vote on the next month’s date at each month’s meeting.
3. Decide how you will choose your books!  I recommend choosing at least two at a time so people can place Libby holds a bit ahead of time. When you are just starting out, I would go ahead and pick the first couple of books (my list is a great place to start!) and then let everyone who attends nominate books for future meetings. We use a randomized picker website so it doesn’t seem biased or you can schedule each person’s book for a certain month.

Here is a sample email to send:

“Hi ____________! I decided to start a book club and invite some people from ______________ so we can hang out and get to know each other outside of things at _________.  No pressure if it’s not your thing but wanted to extend an invite! 

The first meeting will be on ____________________ @ 6pm @_________________________. The book is “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah. Let me know if you think you can make it!”

Now go out there and find your people!  🙂