Many regional alumni clubs have long-established book clubs, which allow alumni to meet on a regular basis and engage in intellectual discussions. The great news is, it’s easy to transition these book clubs to the virtual realm so that they’re compliant with social distancing mandates. Don’t have an existing book club? This could be a good time to give it a try!
Step 1: Select a Book
Of course, there are seemingly endless titles to choose from! Looking for inspiration? The Brown Bookstore has a list of Alumni Authors on their website. To make choosing fair, you could create an online poll for selecting the book. If your book club is already well established, you might consider inviting the book’s author to join you for the discussion.
Step 2: Decide on Technology
There are a number of video conferencing options out there, including:
Cisco WebEx, Zoom, FreeConferenceCall.com, GoToMeeting
Step 3: Pick a Date and Time
You know your local communities best. Are weekend afternoons popular for engagement, or are you better off selecting a weeknight? We don’t recommend meeting more than once a month, and even monthly might be too often for some groups. You want to ensure you give participants enough time to read the book. It’s a good idea to create some consistency around the book club so that attendees can count on a lively discussion at regular intervals (e.g. the third Thursday of every month).
Step 4: Select a Volunteer to Lead the Discussion
This person agrees to read the whole book, will manage the technology, and should come to the event prepared with more questions than they’ll expect to need. They should set the tone for the meeting, laying out any official guidelines for communication. The volunteer should feel comfortable encouraging people to share their perspectives, creating a respectful and dynamic conversation.
Step 5: Create a BRAVO Event Page and Advertise
Create your BRAVO event page so that guests can register to attend online. Then, start inviting people with scheduled emails!
Step 6: Get Social
Make sure to advertise across your group’s social media platforms. Use appropriate hashtags to spread the word about your event and to encourage people to join the fun by registering for the next event. Hashtag possibilities include: #EverTrue, #BrownAtHome, #BrunoniansAtHome, and #Brown(insert last two digits of class year here)
Free Book Resources to Consider
In order to make sure that your book club is accessible for alumni who may be facing unprecedented financial hardship, please consider sharing resources that might allow alumni to access your chosen books for free.
Brown Library Eresources: access the Brown Alumni Library Online
Internet Archive: non-profit digital library offering universal access to books, movies, music, and 279 billion archived web pages.
Your local library: investigate free e-borrowing offerings at your regional libraries.