The Any Book Club
The Michigan City Public Library created a new book club for its patrons last year. The staff had been receiving a lot of inquiries about book clubs. However, the patrons also stated that they were leery of book clubs because they didn't want to feel forced to read a book they might not like. Instead, they wanted a place to go to talk about whatever book they were currently reading. The end result was The Any Book Club.
The Any Book Club is different from the traditional book club concept. Instead of all the members of the club readings the exact same book, based off of a celebrity book club recommendation, the members of The Any Book Club have the freedom to read whatever they want.
The Any Book Club is an open forum for anyone to come talk about the book(s) they are currently reading. This book club meets on the second Monday of every month, usually. Their most recent meeting was February 12, 2024 at 5:00 pm. Light snacks were provided - things like popcorn, lemon crackle cookies, and water. If the book club is taking place closer to a big holiday, they provide holiday treats when available.
I merely sat and observed this time around, as I am not normally very comfortable expressing myself in person, and I've had a really hard time enjoying reading this year.
The tables and chairs were set up in a circular pattern in the main meeting room of the library. This kind of setup allows everyone to better interact with one another. From what I observed, there was no clear leader of the book club. It was hosted by the library and set up by library staff, but the book club came across as more of an open discussion rather than a question and answer session with a clear leader. Everyone was able to take turns talking about the books, authors, or graphic novels they were reading at the time. Everyone was reading something different, which was really interesting to hear about. One person reads only nonfiction books about Vietnam. Someone was reading romantic fairytale retellings from the point of view of the villains. Someone else was reading The Vampires of El Norte. Someone else was reading Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine's series. It was such an interesting collection of reading preferences, but it all worked.
Overall, everyone appeared to be pretty respectful when others were talking. There were some participants that were quieter and more on the shy side of things, but no one every interrupted them or tried to talk over them. On the same side, while everyone interacted well with one another and talked about their current or favorite reads, there were a few participants that had more to say about their reads than others.
The Any Book Club is a really interesting concept, and something that I think more libraries should have for their patrons and their employees. There are plenty of avid readers that really hate the books chosen for traditional book clubs. But just having a forum where you can meet with other people that don't align with the ideas of traditional book clubs is something truly great.
Wow, this is such an incredible idea!! I would totally attend a book club like this! It's the perfect combination of wanting to discuss current items being read, but not being "forced" to choose a specific title. This kind of open forum seems like such a great way to encourage people to talk about what they are currently reading, hear their passion about a title(s), but potentially even better, discover titles/genres you may otherwise not have heard of or chosen for yourself, just by reading a summary or seeing it on a shelf.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds pretty similar to the Silent Book Club my library runs, except that the majority of our program is silent reading time and then everyone gathers at the end to discuss the books they read. I am curious how many people attended this book club, and how long it lasted? I am just picturing everyone giving a quick synopsis and not much discussion? If I were a member of this club, I think I would struggle with discussing it on my own without others to bounce off. What if no one else had ever read what I read? How do people ask questions if they aren't familiar with it? I personally think I'd be more comfortable with participating in a traditional book club, but I am glad that there is this option for those who only want to read specific things they are interested in.
ReplyDeleteI also attended a book club like this. It was the New York Public Library's "Open Book Hour" that took place over Google Meet. It's interesting to me that yours didn't really have a leader and was just a space for people to start talking. Mine had a librarian act as a facilitator, but more in the way of keeping people on track, giving everyone the chance to talk, asking more probing questions, keeping track of what was discussed to share later on, etc.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree with you that more libraries should do these types of book clubs. Honestly, I specifically searched for one of these so that I could actually participate rather than observe and like you mentioned, I am one of those that didn't want to read a book that might not interest me (plus, I didn't have the time to read a new book). I figured it would be a fun way to get some recommendations for some books I haven't read before and as a way to flex the skills we're gaining in this class and be more mindful of how I talk about books to people.
This book club format seems to be more commonplace than the structured book clubs of the past. It's an inclusive way for community members to come together and celebrate the one thing they all have in common: their love for reading.
ReplyDeleteSide note, are you from Michigan City? My Grandma lives in New Carlisle and we always end up at Lighthouse Mall for the after Christmas sales when we go up for the holidays!
This is inspiring as something new to try at my library. Sometime our book club will do this at the end of year to share our favorite books, but have found members aren't very invested without having read a specific book and fewer people attend. I tried this once for 4-6th grade and no one showed up. I thought kids would particularly like this type of book club. Maybe I should keep trying! I think an adult book club dedicated to this format would attract a totally different set of people that the regular style misses.
ReplyDeleteI like this idea. It is hard to find a book that everyone wants to read. This is also a great way to hear about other books that you might enjoy. I love Michigan City! It is my favorite place to go outlet shopping and visit the lake.
ReplyDeleteI'm having a hard time getting my head around how to discuss books when participants don't have titles in common. My group has only done a hybrid of this a couple of times, specifically, choosing our own banned books for banned book week and sharing what we read and what if anything we found objectionable (no one wanted to ban anything). I've played with the idea of choosing a theme and recommending a variety of choices that fit the theme that may appeal to different readers; this discussion has me thinking about it again!
ReplyDeleteI really love this idea. The complaint of "what if I have to read a book I do not like" has always been my issue with a book club. This seems like a good way to have the community come together to talk about books without having to deal with that issue.
ReplyDeleteOne of your classmates attended this same book club as well! I think it's a fun concept and it's a good way to bring in more readers and add to your TBR. Great write up!
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