Starting a Book Club:

You might've heard people talking about Reading Clubs, and now you're interested in finding out more about this great way to share books. From small Clubs that gather in living rooms and libraries to the millions who tune in to find out Oprah's picks each month, reading clubs are everywhere! You and your friends could have a lot of fun in a Book Club, but how the heck do you start one? Stay cool; There are all the answers to your Reading Club questions.

The easiest way to get a club started is to just phone up another friend or two who like to read. Call or email your buddies and see if they want to get together to read and discuss a good book. If everyone brings one other person, you'll have a large enough club in no time! You can also put up posters advertising your club if you still want more members. Post flyers at your school, church, or library (that's one place where you're sure to find book-lovers!) and you can meet some new kids who might make good additions.

Attendance can be a big deal with clubs just starting out. Make sure your friends are really dedicated to reading the books and will come to the meetings. You should decide if members who haven't finished the book yet are welcome to the discussion; they might steer the discussion off-track, and you want people there who actually read the books!

The best club size is between eight and twelve members. Since some people won't be able to make every meeting, you can still have a good conversation with a couple of missing members; if you have more than twelve, it's hard to let everyone speak their minds. You should also decide before you start if you're going to have a coed club or just keep it one gender. Sometimes it might be nice to have different opinions from the opposite sex, but the boys might want to read different books than the girls and the whole club can become a mess. Remember: You're here to read and talk about books, not gossip! When you have a set club, you should discuss how open to new members you want to be and come up with a system for inviting or accepting them.

Once you've gotten your club going, you'll want to lay down some ground rules to keep things running smoothly. Discuss how you'll be organized and consider how you'll make your book selections. Some clubs specialize in certain genres (nonfiction, mysteries, foreign authors, etc). It might be a good idea to appoint a secretary who keeps track of your book lists (both what you've read and what you plan to read) and sends out reminders about your meetings


Your Book Club will be a lot of fun, but it might also be hard work at first. If you want help, ask a parent, teacher, or librarian; they'll be happy to work with you and get your club going. The first few weeks will be a little crazy as you're working stuff out, but you'll be surprised how much fun you and your friends can have discussing the great books you read! Good luck!