Book Club Experience

I participated in an online book club through the Indianapolis Public Library called Young @ Heart. I attended a virtual session on February 17th (the club meets on the third Wednesday of every month, and I wanted plenty of time to do this assignment, which is why I attended weeks ago. I was afraid if I waited until their March meeting, I wouldn’t have enough time to write up my experience by the assignment due date.)

Young @ Heart is a book club for adults who like to read Young Adult books. I love YA literature, so I was excited to find this club. I learned about this book club on www.indypl.org. The online description did not mention a particular book being discussed, so I thought maybe the participants were just going to talk about all kinds of YA books. However, when I was emailed the zoom link the day of the meeting, that email had some more information, including a book title - A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow. I hadn’t heard of the book before, and there wasn’t any possibility of reading it and being able to discuss it on the same day, so I logged into the zoom call prepared to just listen to the other participants discuss the book.

The book club had a moderator, a librarian from IndyPL named Nicole. I learned during the course of the call that Nicole had started Young @ Heart 2 years before - in fact, the evening I attended was the club’s 2-year anniversary. Including myself, there were about 7 people on the call. I think attendance varies from month to month, and was probably higher when the club used to meet in person. One unexpected fun thing I learned is that one of the regular attendees of Young @ Heart is in S524 with me (Hi Naomi! ☺).

 

Who is asking the questions, is there a leader or do people take turns?
Nicole asked most of the questions, allowing plenty of time for participants to respond and for conversation to develop based on their responses.

If there is a leader, does the leader answer the questions as well or let the attendees respond first?
Nicole let the attendees respond first, but she did weigh in with her opinion when people asked her. During the call, it was revealed that none of the other participants had finished the book yet (besides Nicole). When she asked for thoughts on the ending of the book, she was the only one who could respond because she was the only one who had finished.

What type of questions are asked? Any involving just yes or no answers?
Here are some of the questions asked. There was plenty of time between questions for conversation about different parts of the book and how attendees connected aspects of the book to real life.

• Did you finish the book?

• Have you liked what you’ve read so far?

• Did you feel like the magical creatures added to the story?

• How is the audio version of the book? (one person had been listening to it)

• How did the ending make you feel?

• Is anyone reading anything good right now?
  
  

Do all attendees actively participate?
Most of the attendees participated at some point during the call. I did see one person who didn’t say anything, though, and just listened. 

Do any attendees swoop in and steal all the spotlight?
No.

What is the atmosphere of the discussion, where is it taking place at?
As stated above, the call was held via zoom. The members of the book club were really open and friendly. I told them I was observing for a library school class, and they were very welcoming. I was actually surprised to learn that there were 3 current librarians on the call, one former librarian, and just one non-librarian patron. I had been expecting more patrons and fewer librarians, but I guess that’s just the make-up of this particular club. 

Are snacks or drinks provided?
I think they used to have snacks when they met in person because, during our meeting, someone referenced how they missed those.

What types of books does this book club normally discuss?
Young @ Heart discusses YA books, ones that were published in the last few years. They have worked out a calendar for the year and regular members have a list for the entire year, so they know which books are coming up and can read them as they are ready. Nicole mentioned that when they chose the list of books, they specifically asked the attendees if there were genres they wanted/didn’t want, and elements of the books that they wanted or wanted to avoid. Then, based on that feedback, they chose the list of books for the year.

Overall, my book club experience was very positive. I’m glad I had the chance to check out Young @ Heart!