We were at a local cafe (Cafe 110 in Morgantown PA--if you are local and you haven't been there--go! Plus they support kids and libraries and are so incredibly nice to us... so go!) and the kids were a little nervous. We have been running a student book club for about two years now. Before I continue, a little about the club:
- We average about 20 students at our book club meetings and generally met 4 or 5 times a year.
- Books are chosen by the students, voted on by the larger Library Club, and then advertised to the student body and faculty at our school.
- We make posters, find book trailers, and have open sign ups for that book's meeting
- We meet once for each book to discuss, and while it is not at all required, the students generally show up with notes and questions prepared for discussion--in fact, I think it has become the culture of book club, but it is also totally okay when someone shows up less prepared
- Books are provided on Nook E-readers that are set aside from our circulating set for book club specifically or students can buy their own
- The club provides cookies and brownies to help set the atmosphere--we meet off school property, at a local cafe, and enjoy hot tea, desserts, and each other
- We meet for about one hour (and I have generally had to stop their conversations each time)
- Faculty does attend, but not wearing their "teacher" hats... we are just a part of the conversation with the students
- We have had to establish "rules" over time-- no book hopping (stick to the subject), spoilers are to be expected as we hope you've finished the book, one person at a time (we've joked about needing a buzzer), etc.
Anyway, I've left you with nervous students. They were frantically arranging and rearranging seating because for this book club, the author of the Ask the Passengers, our current book, A.S. King would be joining us! For the past month, students had been swinging by the library, giving me the play-by-play breakdown of their reading experience, practicing the phrasing of their questions, asking me for my opinion and generally practicing all of the reading behaviors we hope they will as teachers and librarians.
The meeting was everything I could hope it would be. The students were articulate, engaged, engaging, excited, polite and discerning. Ms. King was kind, generous, open with her responses, engaged with our students and challenging to them on an intellectual and human level. The kids and I left feeling inspired. As I perused twitter and facebook in the hours and days after the book club, I continue to see the students from book club "sending love" to each other through cyberspace, a theme that we touched on quite a bit in our talk with Ms. King.
It is these experiences, that are many times outside the realm of what we do on a day-to-day level with our students that give us those moments that are why we teach, and give the students the moments that they will remember and will hopefully provide that inspiration and drive to be the next author, the next something-that-isn't-invented-yet. These are the moments that are at the center of why this job rocks.
I surveyed our students to find out their insights on book club, now that we have been running for two years and have a pretty solid routine, and here are some of the benefits students noted:
- The opportunity to read books they might not read on their own
- Availability of the Nooks for students who cannot afford to purchase the books on their own
- Enjoyable--takes away the pressure of "English class"
- Time out of the "hectic week to just relax and talk books"
- Provides role models and connections for younger students
- Realize things about the books that they do not on their own
Do you run a student book club? Are you involved in one? Do you just have ideas? I'd love to share ideas and resources with you! Let's keep "those moments" going! Maybe my book club could call your book club and we could, you know, talk books....
Sending love your way!
