You may find the article online here: http://bit.ly/1O8VxUn
To sum up,
"At their best, book discussion groups are the epitome of why we became librarians in the first place. We get paid to read a book and talk about it with fellow book lovers. Sounds perfect, but then reality sets in. Book clubs are actually a complicated dance, where we have to balance the content of the book, the act of leading and planning a discussion, and the realities of an ever-changing group dynamic of patrons dragging their own personal baggage to the discussion. And we generally do all of this alone, without the benefit of another coworker in the room to help us manage it all."
The article goes on to mention a couple of websites to go to when you're looking for inspiration and a shoulder to cry on:
The Adult Reading Round Table
ARRT Book Discussion Training
RA for All
About the Roundtable
- RART Librarian
- Jefferson County, Alabama, United States
The Jefferson County Public Library Association (JCPLA) was founded in 1974 for the improvement of librarianship and for the advancement of public libraries in Jefferson County. The public libraries of Jefferson County form our cooperative system, the Jefferson County Library Cooperative (JCLC). Membership in JCPLA provides an organizational structure for staff training countywide.
The Reader's Advisory Roundtable is open to all library workers in the JCLC Community. If you love reader's advisory, need help honing your skills, or are looking for new tools/ideas, please consider joining us. JCPLA and the Roundtables are a great way to share resources, connect with other libraries in the county, network with your colleagues, or just take a break from the daily grind and get some fresh perspective!
Questions? Send an email to jclcraroundtable [at] gmail [dot] com
