Using Book Clubs for Professional Development and Student Engagement

• What is a Book Club?
– Traditional definition
• A book club, also referred to as a reading group, is a collection of readers who participate in the regular discussion of books. Traditionally, a book club consists of several members who meet in person each month to talk about a specific work.

• What is a Book Club?
– The advent of web forums and email has made it possible for book clubs to exist online.
– Both traditional and online book clubs offer readers the opportunity to participate in spirited discussions, each type has its own set of advantages.

• Traditional book clubs offer the benefit of having all members in the same room
• Most traditional book clubs are somewhat small in size
• Members typically have more control over what books are selected to read
• It is often difficult to organize and maintain a book club that meets regularly
• The small size typically limits the diversity of views and perspectives that enter into the discussion

• Online book clubs offer several advantages over the traditional reading group model.
• Due to the vastness of the web and variety of book clubs available, readers can find a much wider selection of clubs
• Online book clubs can be more convenient.
• There are also disadvantages associated with online book clubs.
• The intimacy of a personal discussion is lost, along with the social interaction

• Virtual book clubs offer benefit of members in “same room,” but more convenient
• Size can range from 10 – 20 readers
• More diversity of views and perspectives
• Variety of book clubs available
• Easy to organize and maintain
• Disadvantage can be technology

• Self Directed book clubs offer local programs more options and control over book selection
• Size can range from 1 – 30+
• Option to connect outlying staff virtually
• Establish dates and times that work around class schedules or in conjunction with staff meetings
• Program focused

Self-Directed (ongoing)
• How to start book clubs
• How to use book clubs in the ABE/ESOL classroom
• eReaders in the
ABE/ESOL classroom
• Leadership
• Special Needs
• ESOL
• Cultural Awareness
• General (Writing, GED)
Virtual (facilitated)
• Leadership series
• Special Needs series
• ESOL series
• Customized (work with program administrators to create and offer book club around staff development needs)

• Traditional books
• Audio books
• Kindles (eReaders)
• Policies and Procedures
• Library loan policies
• Technology loan policies

• The Wisdom of Crowds
• The Energy Bus
• The No Complaining Rule
• How Full Is Your Bucket?
• Get Off Your “But”

• The Short Bus
• Mozart and The Whale
• Proust and the Squid (The Story &
Science of the Reading Brain)
• Taking in Pictures: My Life with Autism

• The Mango Season
• Little Bee
• I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
• The Immigrant’s Way
• A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy
Soldier
• God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir

• A Framework for Understanding Poverty
• Bridges Out of Poverty: Strategies for
Professionals and Communities
• Understanding & Engaging Under-
Resourced College Students
• I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
• The Mango Season

• Writing
– The Freedom Writers Diary:
How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them
• General Education
– 5 Minds for the Future
– Teacher Man
• Kindle in the Classroom
– Hunger Games
– Three Cups of Tea

BookBrowse
• http://www.bookbrowse.com/bookclubs/
Book-Clubs-Resource.com
• http://www.book-clubs-resource.com/
• Publishers’ sites
• Author/Book sites
– Jon Gordon

• What if you can’t find discussion guides?
• How long do individuals have to complete the self-directed PD?
• What are the requirements for participation and completion?
• Others?
• Discussion.

Jody Angelone, Director
Northwest ABLE Resource Center jody_angelone3@owens.edu