On Tuesday, February 10 I attended the “Fiction for Foodies” book club held by the Niles District Library in Niles, MI. I have never been to this library before and I like using class assignments as an excuse to visit library systems that I have never visited. I reached out to the group leader, who is an employee at the library, to see if they would allow to me attend and observe their discussion. The group, consisting of two library leaders and approximately six regular group members, welcomed me with open arms and were excited to have a new individual attend and bring a new viewpoint to the discussion. The group meets once a month and it is facilitated by the librarians who work there. The staff pick the books that the club will read and they decide on the list for the entire year at the end of the previous one.
For the February book club, the group was discussing The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. The group started as a way for interested individuals to get together and share good stories and good food. In the beginning all of the books the club read featured food fairly prominently in the story. As the club has progressed, they have started to choose stories that are more varied and don’t focus on food in them. Each member brings a dish to share that reminds them of the book and the club begins by gathering around the table with full plates to indulge and share their thoughts.
Once the members settle into their places with full plates the discussion can begin. The library employees print out a double sided sheet with information about the book on one side and discussion questions on the other side of the book. Having a handout like this one is a tip provided by ALA for facilitating a book discussion. They recommend groups “distribute handouts to everyone in order to refresh memories or use as talking points” (Facilitating Discussion). The employee leader pointed out the sheet and then asked what everyone thought of the book. She did not start by giving her opinion, but rather let the group go around the table and discuss their overall opinion about the chosen title. This particular start to the book discussion may not be the best one available to the leader of the group. “...I find that with many groups, the first question that gets asked is, naturally, ‘What did you think of the book?’ But once that’s answered, the group is quickly divided into the pros and cons. And all the subsequent responses to questions and topics of discussion are prefaced by statements like, ‘I really liked this book, but...’ or ‘I hated it, and...’” (Pearl). The general consensus seemed to be that most members did not care for The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. Many of the group felt that the book was a sad a read and they would have liked to see it have a happier ending. After going around and telling their initial opinions, the group moved on to discussion about other aspects and specific details about the story. They discussed the characters and how they felt about their actions. They also discussed in great detail the mention of other works of fiction written into the story. Since the main character runs a bookstore, books end up being brought up quite often in throughout and most of them are actual published titles.
Throughout the discussion the library leader did not jump in immediately with her opinion, rather she would pose a question and let the group discuss their opinions and ideas before contributing her own thoughts to the book. The group was not critical of anyones opinions and each time someone expressed an idea, the group listened carefully without interrupting and then responded with their own opinion. This was not a group that was intimidating and everyone seemed to be comfortable sharing their thoughts throughout the meeting. Even though the library employees had prepared a list of discussion questions the group referenced the sheet only a couple of times when the discussion seemed to die down a bit and no one was volunteering a new topic for discussion. With the exception of these few moments, the discussion flowed quite easily and it was evident the group members, all of whom were women over the age of 30, had met in this capacity before and were able to easily make conversation.
The book group started at 6:30 pm and was slated to last for one hour. The group discussion lasted well past the scheduled end time and the participants kept discussing the book, along with other books and non-book related topics, until after the library itself had closed at 8:00 pm. The group was very friendly and their choice of titles was varied to get their participants to branch out and try new books. The work chosen for March was a non-fiction title that none of the participants had previously read. The group seems like it would be a fun one to attend, with lively discussion and good food. The library staff did a good job of organizing the group; they prepared questions in case of lulls in the conversation but did not require the discussion to adhere to this strict outline. This allowed the participants to discuss the book at leisure and wander off topic and back on if desired.
Resources
Pearl, Nancy. "Check It Out with Nancy Pearl: Guidelines for Book Groups."Publisher's Weekly. N.p., 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/columns-and-blogs/nancy-pearl/article/55454-check-it-out-with-nancy-pearl-guidelines-for-book-groups.html>.
