INVESTIGATION

• Before the beginning of 2023's summer break, my friends and I decided to start a book club as we felt that many of us stopped reading as much as we used to. 

• Since we wanted to promote literacy in our community through our bookclub, we focused on two main objectives: 

  • 1) to discuss books that we've read recently

  • 2) to find a common book to read collectively as a club

PREPARATION

• Since the book club was relatively relaxed, in the sense that the creation of the club is ultimately to allow people to enjoy themselves through reading rather than making them feel like it's a daunting task, there was less "serious" structures and procedures.

• However, we did assign roles to each other to help ensure that the book club would run smoothely during meetings and the time in-between. My friend Pasita was responsible for outreaching as she had friends from both international and Thai schools while I was responsible for suggesting and looking for books that were suitable for the individuals in our club. 

• At one point of the preparation, my friend and I attempted to decide on a name for the book club but we couldn't. We've been calling it "the book club" for months now. Now that I think about it, I think our indecision in naming the book club didn't affect us as I highly doubt that we would've referred to the bookclub by its name anyways. 

• During our preparation stage, we also had many discussions on when it would be best to host these meetings as our schedules do not align most of the times. Because of this, it was nearly impossible to get everyone together physically to attend the book club which is why we decided to host most of our meetings virtually as it was more convenient for everyone. Furthermore, there were some individuals that we weren't very familiar with and it might have been slightly uncomfortable for them if we held meetings in real life. I think hosting these meetings online allowed many of our members feel more vocal as they were speaking from the comforts of their own homes. 

ACTION

• We had our first official book meeting in mid-July with some of our friends. During this meeting, we picked a relatively short book to read as we wanted to make sure that we could finish it before August so that when other members returned from vacation, they would be able to have a "fresh start" without feeling behind in reading. I picked Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "Social Contract" as it is one of my favourite books. However, now that I think about it, it probably wasn't the best decision (I will elaborate on this later).

• We held meetings every three weeks, or once a month when our schedules do not align. We tried to space out the duration in between each meeting as my friend and I felt that it wasn't appropriate to have such frequent meetings. This was because we had members of different reading levels (we had a few friends from Thai schools as well) and hosting a meeting to check up on their progress and discuss about the book might discourage them as they might feel that they are not on track. Having less frequent meetings gave most of our members enough time to at least begin reading the book so that the conversations we have, when we do host a meeting, are more insightful.

• In our bookclub, we often take turns suggesting books that should be read. Hence, we occasionally have meetings where we don't discuss a particular book's content but instead have everyone, if they're comfortable, share their favourite books. I often felt that these meetings were more fun as everyone definitely seemed to be more "in their element" as they got to talk about something they're more passionate about. 

REFLECTION

• As aforementioned, Rousseau's "Social Contract" was probably not the best choice as the first book we read together because despite it being short, there is a lot to process as the wording is slightly confusing since there were terms like "state", "sovereign", and other words that were specific to the book itself. Though many of us knew the meanings of these words, they weren't used "normally" and it was somewhat "confusing as the terms were very similar" (said by one of the members). However, thankfully, we did push through the book. Now I know that suggesting a book that has a more "obvious" plot, in the sense that the characters carry out consequential actions, is a better decision since many of my members are more interested in those types of books.

• Another important point that we learned was the importance of being specific when giving instructions. This was because we had members buying different versions of the translated books thrice (which isn't a lot but it's strange that it happened three times). Managing the book club and learning about our "mistakes" through these funny moments with our members really helped us to understand that we often forget to factor in small details which might cause bigger problems later on.

• I think that the overall experience was an interesting one as I learned a lot through partaking in the creation and management of a book club. My friend and I didn't think our book club was going to last at first since we were both people that somewhat struggled with our time management and staying on task but it surprisingly worked out and lasted longer than expected. Perhaps one of the main reasons as to why we didn't put the responsibility of running the book club on the side was that it didn't really feel like a daunting task. Furthermore, there wasn't a lot of pressure associated with each meeting as it felt like a casual conversation with other people who also liked reading. 

Duration of the book club: June 2023 - February 2024

CAS LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

• 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

• 3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

• 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

• 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.