Starting a Reading Group
Being part of a reading or book group is a popular pastime and there are certainly a number of active groups in this area. A reading group can be as simple as a few friends meeting informally to chat about a chosen book or it can be a larger, more structured group who decide to have more formal meetings and specify a subject or membership criteria. There is lots of useful information available to help anyone who would like to try starting a reading group in their own area - have a look at the links on the right hand side of this page.
Structure of the group
The reading group can have as few as 4 or 5 members, but no more than 10. Existing book groups have found that things become unmanageable with a larger group. The meetings can take place in a variety of locations, depending on the size and make-up of the group. A small group of friends may decide to take it in turns to host the meeting in their own home, whereas a group of people who don't know each other very well may want to meet on neutral territory, such as a village or church hall, or even the local library if there is available space.
Once the venue has been decided, you need to decide when and how often the group should meet. The frequency of meetings can be anything from once every month, to once every three months - depending on how quickly the group read! Everyone in the group should be happy with the agreed date & time.
Choosing what to read & talk about
There are so many possibilities open to you that hopefully this will be part of the enjoyment of the group. You can select rotating genres, e.g. crime, romance, autobiography, humour; agree on a specific genre but different authors for comparison; stick with the same author; rotate suggestions among the group; debate what to read; use the Sunday supplements as a prod; you could even ask your local library staff for recommendations!
Having agreed on a book, the group then reads it and meets to discuss it. Reading groups and their members will vary - some will want to look for hidden meanings and carry out a thorough literary criticism, while others will prefer to say whether they enjoyed the book or not and say why. At the meeting group members will talk about things like the way the book made them feel or which characters they liked and didn't like; there may be some discussion about the themes in the book and which sections were the most powerful; did the story end well and did the group like the ending; was the book far-fetched or does it relate to real life? The author may also be a topic for discussion, e.g. the way that he or she writes or how the selected book compares with others they have written. Hopefully opinions will differ and this will lead to interesting and constructive discussion, with a few laughs too!
Getting started
Once you've decided to start a reading group and are looking for members, there are several things you can try.
- Let your local library know - if space allows, they can display a poster.
- Speak to your local paper about the possibility of having a paragraph with details of the group and inviting anyone interested to contact you.
- Contact other local groups who may be able to help out by spreading word of the reading group.
If you don't get a response from these suggestions, contact the AK Bell Library in Perth where staff may be able to offer further ideas.
The library service have a collection of books (pdf: 23kb) exclusively for reading groups to borrow. In order to use this service, the group must register with the library service and provide the following details
- Name of the book group
- Name of main contact(s)
- Address of main contact
- Telephone number
- Email address
This information should be given to the contact for book groups in AK Bell Library.
You can also order and purchase books through the AK Bell Library Shop - most orders arrive very quickly. Contact the Shop Manager to find out if the title you wish to purchase is available, and whether a discount can be obtained.
