Q&A for How to Start a Book Club at School

Discuss the chapters you were recently reading, talk about the setting, the characters' emotions and the main problem of the book.

Explain the benefits and what it would bring to the school. Also say that it can be educational so you can help all the participating students to create great essays and a good book analysis. Perhaps show some videos of successful book club experiences. You might like to ask your parents to act as a support team too.

Try meeting at a local library. If the kids in the book club have library cards, you could also use books from that library.

The best thing to do would be to come up with a group of people who can all read the same books. It would be very difficult to conduct a book club where everyone was reading different things. Alternatively, you could split your book club up into smaller groups (by ages, for example).

Put up posters in your halls and hand out flyers about your book club. For your first book, choose something you know people are interested in, maybe a book you've heard others talk about, or one that's been made into a popular movie. Also, be patient. Maybe your book club will attract more members over time.

No. You do not have to read a series of books in a book club and yes, you can read the Bible, but this would be considered a Bible study and not a book club.

The local library, or, if the group is small, you can gather at a quiet and a non-crowded café.

You can join book clubs at your local public library, or get special permission to join the book club at your school.

You all read the same book, then discuss it: what you liked, what you didn't like etc.

You could ask your parents to get the books from a nearby bookshop or you may ask your members if they have the specific book.

You can simply ask the other members to figure out how to get the book themselves. Find out if your school and local libraries have copies, and/or show others where they can purchase the book.

Visit the town library and ask the librarian how you can get a library card.

It means that your book club needs more than just one friend (one other person) to be in your book club.

There is no age requirement to start a book club, as long as you have permission from school authorities and you choose age-appropriate books to read.

Lots of people have already done book clubs on Harry Potter, so it might be better to do something more original.

Feel free to experiment. On the one hand, if everyone reads the same book, the conversation afterwards is better understood by everyone. On the other hand, experienced readers may listen to someone who has read a book, and get the same experience they would have had if they'd read it themselves. There are so many good books. Having others read them may help you to better pick the ones you want to read, too. You could make that the assignment: tell us about the book you read in such a way that the others can decide whether or not to read it.

You could try that, but I would recommend you only switch genres once a month.

It is free at any school with a library.

I doubt your school would object, since they should be encouraging kids to read, but you could always just have an informal club where you meet up at recess to talk about a book you read at home.

You can read about daring adventures or historical events that you never knew, as suggested by other members of the group. Book clubs are a great way to read things you normally wouldn't. Also, you get to share your thoughts, ideas and ask questions among each other, which can incentivize reading and learning.