You love the company of books. An idea goes off in your mind, and you makes a decision to start a book club. Good! How do you start one and maintain it. Given below are some points on how to have your own book club where you can exchange books and keep the club kicking!!

Theme

Decide on a theme. What type of books would your club like to keep – teen mystery book club, fiction book club or an adult book club? Having a theme makes it easier to generate ideas, and keep the group focused and motivated. It also makes it easier for the club to maintain books according to the chosen theme.

Build a Group

Look out for people who are passionate about reading. You can look for them in your family, friends or any place you socialize. One thing to note is; they all should be avid readers. Only choose people who can devote some time to your regular meetings. You definitely don’t want the team to be pointing fingers at you.

Venue

Finalise where all of you would meet each other. If you are known to all, you can call them over to your house. To make the party interesting you serve snacks and alcohol. After the first meeting let each member take turns to host the meeting. If home is not comfortable for some; you can meet at a local library or an open place.

Meet

Set a time for your meeting. Ideally it should be one hour. If there are more members, two hours should be good enough. Stick to this time. Don’t exceed the time limit as people may be put off, and you future meet could see less number turning up.

Poll

Hold a poll amongst members of your club. This would give an idea of what kind of books they would like to read. Also decide on a common time and date to meet.

First Meeting

Declare the date of your first meeting. Give a time of two weeks for all to read. Time of three weeks is even better. A week before the actual meeting, send out an e-mail.

Select your Team

If you have a big group of over ten people it would be better to vote and select a secretary, vice president etc. In this way you have an organized club. If it’s a smaller group don’t bother much as you would be able to manage without a cabinet.

Discussion

Carry atleast 5 books when you go for the meeting. Search the internet for any ideas on books. Conduct an opinion poll on which book to read for next meeting. Introduce each other so that each one known the other person in the group.

To make the party exciting you can serve bread, nuts, popcorn as snacks and some tea, or soft drinks as refreshment. This will not only make people happy, but its easier to start a conversation.