Book Club Experience

 For this assignment I decided to participate in a bookclub in the next town over. We read The Personal

Librarian by Marie Benedict, who I have heard is an amazing author, and is from what I have read.

Highly recommend the book. 

During the bookclub program I didn’t give any details about doing the program for a class or about me working at a library. I just told them that I was interested in the book and, after reading it, was excited to see what other people had thought. When the program began the librarian heading the program introduced herself and had everyone else introduce themselves as well. I suspect this was more for my benefit than it being normal since it seemed that everyone already knew each other. The librarian, Becky, asked everyone what they thought of the book. Everyone took turns answering and just gave basic answers at first but soon started discussing their likes and dislikes of either the book or characters themselves. After every answer Becky would as look at her list of notes on the book and ask a more in depth question relating to the book. Some questions included, “Why didn’t the main character reveal her secret at the end?”, “Who do you think she went back to the man who betrayed her so badly?”, etc. It was interesting to hear the answers everyone gave. One person even stated they didn’t like the main character due to her continuous attitude and entitlement. Yet after discussing the main character more they stated they may need to read the book again with the new insight and views everyone gave to see if they would like her more. I thought it was interesting to hear since it meant they had an open mind and were willing to change their views. 

Everyone in the group participated willingly and freely, however there was one person who seemed to always try to bring the conversation back to themself and what they experienced. Now normally this would be a great thing when trying to relate to the book but it seemed like whenever someone would try to give their opinion they would bring the conversation back to themselves. I believe Becky saw this but she didn’t say anything and only tried to push them back to the topic at hand. I feel like this was a good move on her part because it meant that she didn’t embarrass the participant by calling them out but she also didn’t let the conversation get too off topic. I did sense a little annoyance from a couple participants who they had interrupted but nothing too bad. 

The overall atmosphere of the discussion throughout the program was happy and inclusive. I was worried about when some heavier topics from the book were starting to be discussed since I know it could get uncomfortable. Yet that wasn’t the case at all with this group. The group attentively listened to everyone’s views on the heavier topics and seemed to have open minds if someone disagreed about something with another participant. It definitely gave off the feeling of being a free space.

Near the end of the book club, when all the questions seemed to be asked and answered, everyone began talking about different books they have been reading during the month and giving suggestions to other participants and even to the librarian for future club meetings. I also got a lot of great suggestions of books to add to my neverending reading list. Not long after people began leaving to go get lunch, there were no snacks or drinks provided, or run errands. I stayed back to ask Becky what other books the club has read and she told me about how, since she tries to expand everyone’s mind and interests, including her own, she switched reading nonfiction books and fiction books month by month. So since they had read The Personal Librarian, a fiction book, they will be reading a nonfiction book, Educated by Tara Westover, next month. I thought this was a smart idea and am thinking about incorporating it to my own bookclub. 

Overall I feel that I would definitely join this bookclub if I had more time. They were very welcoming and open to hearing everyone’s thoughts and opinions. Although I will say the one thing that would make the bookclub better is if they had coffee and snacks. Just because I was hungry during the program and love talking about books over coffee and snacks.