Anatomy of a Book Club

I’m currently working with the youth at my church. Young Women ages 12-17 yrs old. I love it. I love everything about it. I’m enjoying myself so much.

All the girls love to read. I love to read. We’re a match made in heaven! We knew we wanted to start a book club or a literary guild. We just had to! Last night was our first meeting.

I had a couple of weeks to prepare and I was on the hunt for some fun printables. I used these and I can’t wait to use these this summer! I wanted to make a cute little goody bag for the girls to take home. I chose a book I thought each of the girls would like and I made a summer reading log so they could keep track of what they read. I threw in a bookmark, pen, and a chocolate bar for good measure. Reading and chocolate. Need I say more?

We thought for our first meeting we’d all share our favorite books. A few of us even came dressed as our favorite characters! Each of us took a few minutes to talk about a book we really enjoyed and why. We wrote down all the recommendations in our new Summer Reading Logs. We ate some birthday cake {I’m wishing I took a piece home…} and had the most fun talking about books!

Here are the books that the girls shared:: 

Here are a few tips to start your own Book Club:

1. Get together a core group. This can be just a group of friends, neighbors, co-workers, people you go to church with. It can be anyone who likes to read and some who don't yet! You might find enough people immediately for your club, but sometimes it can take a little persuasion to get your group started. 

2. Set a regular meeting time. There can be conflicts in time, but the best thing to do is find the best time for your core group and set a time in advance. This gives your members time to plan for the evening. Not everyone will be able to make it every month and this is OK. 

3. Advertise your book club. If you have a core group of 3-4 then word of mouth is the best way to get your club members. 

4. Set ground rules. These can be how books are chosen, who leads discussions and where the meetings are held, etc. 

5. Meet. If your group is small at first this is OK. Just keep inviting and holding your club meetings. More will join as time passes. 

6. Food. Always have food at your book club! Need I say more?

Do you have any Book Club tips? 

Share them in the comments below!