Reading and Talking about Race: An Intro to ALAâs Great Stories Club (Part 1: Deeper Than Our Skins)
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book club
Cook the Book Club
Once per month, we host a cookbook club-meets-potluck event that always draws a crowd. Each member picks a recipe from the same book (voted on by the group) and they bring in the dish to share.
The result is a potluck with lots of talk about cooking and recipes and how to improve on them. And it's about community, getting to know our neighbors and making new friends, with an opportunity for many of our refugee and new American patrons to practice English with native speakers in a fun, social setting.
Books & Libations: A New Way to RA
In this adult evening program, participants learn about six spectacular books and sample six amazing local beverages at tasting stations.
Each book is paired with a beverage matched in tone and intensity to the book. Program partners have included wineries, coffee roasters and tea shops.Â
Titles selected for this program are usually âunder-performersâ in our community â books that were highly reviewed but havenât circulated well. After the program, most circulate much better and for an extended period of time: circulation stays elevated on each title for up to two years.
Shorts & Stouts
Shorts & Stouts is a monthly short story discussion group held a local brewery. Each month the discussion focuses on a pair of stories by a single author.
No stout purchase is required for participation. :)
Sweet Treat Book Club
I love teen book clubs! They encourage teens to read something new and provide great enrichment by asking them to examine what they've read. They soak up new vocabulary words, figure out the storyline, and learn about the characters.
A Weekly Escape Into Stories: The Great Stories Club at a Youth Correctional Facility
Ask anyone who works with teens, inside or outside the library, and they might tell you that 13- to 18-year-olds are a tough crowd to reach.
True Crime Book Club
The true crime genre is very popular with podcasts, documentaries, and of course, books! True Crime Book Club uses true crime non-fiction to explore social issues such as mental health, racism and substance abuse.
Green Book Community Read
The Perry Memorial Library created a community read around "The Green Book" and Navigating Jim Crow through the Civil Rights era.
The library facilitated author talks with award-winning authors Calvin Ramsey, Candacy Taylor and Gretchen Sorin.
Bookish Trailblazers
Bookish Trailblazers is a monthly outdoor book club dedicated to bringing nature and adventure to patrons. Through the program, we seek to encourage patrons to spend more time outdoors, to appreciate and learn about nature through books, and to exercise.
Apply Now: "Ask, Listen, Empowerâ Virtual Book Club Series
ALA has announced the âAsk, Listen, Empowerâ Virtual Book Club, a series of three virtual, interactive conversations about community engagement to be held once per month in January, February and March 2022.
Student-Led Book Clubs: Creating a Reading Community For College Students
Students at beachside University of California, Santa Barbara have a reputation for working hard and playing hard.
Virtual Book Clubs for School Libraries
In our 2019 blog post "Reel âEm In! Get Secondary Students Hooked on Self-Selected Titles," we shared how classroom book clubs were taking off and how the culture of reading we were developing within our school.
7 Nonfiction Titles about the Climate Crisis
After decades of attracting the attention of scientists and environmentally minded people, sustainability and climate change are moving to the forefront of public consciousness. Over 70 percent of the upcoming college-age generation care about global warming and climate injustices. A resilient and climate justice approach is growing.
A Very 2020 Book Club Reading List
Are you looking for book club reads that can help us make sense of 2020? We asked librarians for their recommendations on books that are relevant to this tumultuous year. Fiction or nonfiction, new or old â these books speak to the unique times we're going through.
Do you have other recommendations? Add them in the comment section below.
Reading and Talking about Race: An Intro to ALAâs Great Stories Club (Part 2: Finding Your Voice)
Join ALA's Public Programs Office for a free one-hour webinar to learn about free ALA book club resources that can help us navigate these difficult conversations and critically examine race and privilege.
Virtual Book Clubs: A Learning Experience
Palos Verdes Library District (PVLD) staff members felt ready to take the leap into the world of virtual book clubs in the time of a pandemic.Â
Book Club Going Virtual? Consider These 3 Things
Are you considering taking your book club online? Before you take the plunge, pause to ask yourself (and/or your participants) these three questions.
Reel âEm In! Get Secondary Students Hooked on Self-Selected Titles
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) share six Common Beliefs in their 2018 National School Library Standards. One that stands out to us is the belief that âreading is the core of academic and personal competency.â
"School librarians," the standards go on to state, "initiate and elevate and motivate reading initiatives by using story and personal narrative to engage learners.â
Book Club Reboot: Creative Twists on the Reading Groups We Know and Love
In this session, the authors of âBook Club Reboot: 71 Creative Twistsâ (ALA Editions, 2019) will share out-of-the-box ways to spice up your book clubs. From unique meeting locations, to reaching niche populations, to time-saving techniques and savvy partnerships, you will leave with ideas to put to work in your library right away.
APPLY NOW: Great Stories Club Series on Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation
Library workers are invited to apply for the American Library Associationâs Great Stories Club series on Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT), a thematic reading and discussion program that engages underserved teens through literature-based library outreach programs and racial healing work.Â
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