Fun with Campus Book Clubs

January 6th, 2012

by Meredith Nudo

Happy New Year! No doubt many of you, regardless of whether or not you're currently enrolled in any classes, have probably resolved to read more. I'm just assuming this because exploring more books always seems to be a pretty common New Year's goal, of course. For all I know you guys are all about painting yourselves chartreuse and streaking across the lawn of the Lincoln Memorial. That's fine and everything, but I'm not going to write about that particular pasttime today.

Instead, as you can probably assume from the title, I'm rolling with book clubs. Because if you want to read more in 2012, they do make for a great way to keep yourself disciplined – not to mention broadening your literary horizons. I've blogged a little about my own experiences leading the Houston Great Books Council's Young Thinkers group, and I think a lot of what I've learned from them easily apply to those offered through (or at least at) a college campus.

For those of you with the time and motivation to launch your own book club, you might want to consider tweaking the typical format to meet the needs of frantic students. Those forced to balance classes and work (maybe even a family) would benefit from smaller – but still thought-provoking – reads. Try novellas like The Metamorphosis or assign essays and poems in lieu of thicker books. You might attract more participants if they don't think they'll be lugging around yet another doorstopper in their backpacks. Additionally, food. And drinks. College students have even less money than they do time. If there's any chance to potluck it or, if you're affiliated with a recognized club, scrape through the coffers and buy a few pizzas, DO IT. Free and/or cheap food draws underclassmen like Pompeii worms to hydrothermic vents. It works for pretty much every other organization on campus, anyways…Back in my Sam Houston days, I more or less adhered to pretty much every religious denomination out there, because yay complimentary pizza, chips, and soda.

But I digress.

Beyond that, though, conducting a book club on campus is more or less the same as doing so off. If you're looking for a little inspiration in starting one yourself or joining up with a pre-existing one, the following list might prove beneficial:

• University of Wisconsin-Madison's Go Big Read initiative. This school-wide program started off with Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food and wound up spawning smaller groups interested in reading about and discussing other subjects, like race and diversity.
  
• Ohlone College Book Club. For the supremely schedule-challenged, meeting only once a semester might prove an excellent compromise, allowing students to check out some new reads without panicking over a tight deadline.
  
• Boston College Book Club. Offered through the Alumni Association and Newton College of the Sacred Heart, this organization provides book store discounts (20% off!) to members and even sets up conference calls for remote attendance. Definitely options to consider when looking to address specific financial and temporal needs.
  
• College Hill Book Club. To save time, the leaders here often turn towards pre-written question guides instead of writing their own. Either look online, at libraries and bookstores, or through the publishers themselves when wanting to cut corners in this manner.

Those of you who have been involved in campus book clubs – or wanting to share what you'd want if one started at your school – should post advice and suggestions down in the comments section! I'm sure there's points I completely forgot.

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