How to Make Your Book Club More Accessible
Are you looking to join an accessible book group, or even considering setting up your own? So many women in the City Girl Network already enjoy trying out new genres and connecting with other readers in our book clubs. See if your city has one that you can join by checking out the listings.
These tips will help make sure your book club is accessible and everyone can have fun taking part!
Who decides what to read?
Everyone should feel that they have agency in choosing what the book group reads. This can be as simple as getting members to write a recommendation on a post-it note then picking one out of a hat. Alternatively, you could take a more structured approach, deciding on a theme for each meeting and voting on books that align with the theme.
Themes such as feminism, mental health, Black history, and LGBT+ authors are an easy way to introduce inclusive books, that are more likely to reflect the experiences and concerns of different group members.
What’s important in a book club book?
However exciting, new releases don’t make great book club selections because they tend to be available only inexpensive and unwieldy hardcover editions. Nobody wants to constantly be shelling out to keep up with the group choices. Why not set up a book exchange or choose titles that are widely available in local libraries?
Ideally, the books should be available in a wide range of formats, including paperback, ebook and audiobook, to suit individual reading preferences.
Other factors to consider in your book club books are the length (most people will struggle to get through an 800+ page tome in a month!) and any trigger warnings to note. Trigger warnings may be listed on the author’s website, or there are crowd-sourced databases at Book Trigger Warnings and Trigger Warning Database.
Where should you hold your book club?
With COVID-19 still very much with us, everyone will have different comfort zones when it comes to meeting up. If possible, have both a virtual book club and an in-person meeting, or encourage members to meet separately one-to-one if they are unsure about large groups.
For IRL meet-ups, select an easily accessible location, somewhere casual where the group will be welcome to sit and chat for a while without having to order round after round of pricey drinks. For online book clubs, make sure you provide clear joining instructions.
Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash
How can you create a safe space?
Choosing inclusive reads is a first step to making sure everyone feels welcome - there are so many diverse lists online with book club suggestions to get you started.
Share expectations - such as being aware of potential triggers and being open to learning - even if this is just an informal announcement at the start of the book club meeting. Remember that everyone has different lived experiences, but nobody should feel responsible for educating the group.
Before the event, it’s a good idea to have a nominated person who people can message privately if they want to talk through an issue raised in the book.
Keep it fun!
Everyone will have varied reading speeds, book tastes and expectations from a book group. An element of compromise is needed when you bring all these readers together, but don’t forget that it’s supposed to be fun!
Feeling under pressure to get to the end of a book is a real drag, especially if you aren’t enjoying it, so be flexible and adjust the frequency of meetings, monthly, bi-monthly, or ad-hoc, to suit the group’s needs.
Make sure everyone knows that they’re welcome to attend even if they haven’t managed to finish the book - you could even split into spoilers and spoiler-free conversations. Don’t take book club too seriously, laugh over your unpopular opinions, and most importantly, enjoy connecting with like-minded bookworms!
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Written by Florence Edwards
