Book Club Best Practices
Directions: Use the best practices guidelines below to start your own book club. These guidelines can help you facilitate productive discussions about topics that are relevant and impactful to your group.
Selecting Books/Topics:
- Clearly outline the purpose of the book. Is it for professional development, team building, or personal growth? Establish specific goals and objectives to guide the club’s activities.
- Whenever possible, choose books that relate to the team’s or organization’s goals. This can help members see the direct application of the book’s concepts to their work, promoting relevance and engagement.
- Consider rotating book selection responsibilities among members or consider a voting process to be inclusive of different perspectives and ideas.
Logistics:
- Set a regular meeting schedule to ensure consistency. This could be monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly. Choose a day and time that works for most members, and be respectful of everyone’s time.
- Identify specific opportunities for reading and be prepared to set expectations. This includes reading at work vs on personal time.
- Set a time for final discussion or review at the beginning of the book club. This will allow for people to pace themselves and have a clear end date in advance.
Discussions:
- Foster an open and inclusive atmosphere where all members feel comfortable expressing their opinions. Encourage constructive discussions and create an environment that promotes learning and sharing.
- Be respectful of each other. This includes no yelling or arguing, one person talks at a time and no interrupting.
- Designate a discussion leader for each meeting or rotate the role. The leader can prepare discussion questions to guide conversations and encourage participation from all participants. Encourage members to share their thoughts, insights, and personal experiences related to the book.
- Research if your book has predetermined questions from the author to help guide discussion.