Develop a Sense of Community and Empowerment with a Book Club

As a follow up to a recent Tutor Tip about the Barbara Bush Foundation’s Reading Resource Library, let’s turn to book clubs for adult learners. Summer is a great time to get into a good book, and the Barbara Bush Foundation’s Reading Resource Library offers lots of great titles as well as teaching and tutoring resources for advanced adult education students, teachers and volunteers interested in starting a book club. The Open Door Book Club at the Southside learning center in Minneapolis provides a great example.

Nikki Carson, Lead ESL Teacher at Open Door Southside, has worked with her advanced learners and the volunteers in her class to run a book club for a couple of years. Here’s what Nikki said about the club’s origins: “The club wasn’t my idea. It grew from one small group of Civics/College Prep students who were working on ways to spread Civic Engagement at the school while we were completing a Human Rights unit a few years ago. I agreed to facilitate and give it a go.” The club meets every Sunday at Open Door Southside and has read A Good Time for the Truth, The Giver, White Fragility, Far from the Tree and several others. 

Volunteers have a big role to play in Open Door’s book club. Nikki says, “Volunteers are the cornerstone to the continuity of our Open Door Book Club; they provide the consistency and reliability that members have come to depend on, especially in these past pandemic days when we have really needed each other's company and support as an education community. Volunteers facilitate for a staff person when they are unavailable to host a meeting. They read ahead and brainstorm thought-provoking questions about character development or theme. Some volunteers use their creative skills to suggest ideas for our book club monthly bulletin board and others use their tech skills to help the group manage and maintain the club's website.” The ways volunteers participate are as varied as their talents.

Read more about Open Door’s book club on its website. It includes the full list of books participants have read and member testimonials.

Now that you’ve heard about this great example, here are a few tips for starting a book club at your learning center:

• Involve learners from the beginning. Check their level of interest and availability to participate. Ask what topics or titles learners want to engage with and involve them in planning the reading schedule. 
• Recruit other volunteers to help.
• See which volunteers might like to do the following:  facilitate meetings, read ahead, write discussion questions and develop relationships with a book store or librarian to acquire enough copies of the book for participants. Book stores may offer discounts, recommend titles or supply advanced reading copies. 
• As with so many things in adult education, flexibility will be important. Develop a plan to start your book club and tweak it as you go along. 

As Nikki said, “Learners appreciate having a book club for the sense of community and empowerment that it brings.” Talk with people about starting a book club at your learning center today!

Thanks to Nikki Carson and book club participants for informing this Tutor Tip. For questions or comments regarding this tip, please contact Tutor Training Coordinator, Meghan Boyle at mboyle@literacymn.org.