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March 14, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS

What’s it take to run a book club with teens? Author Teri Brown shares her experience

March 14, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS   2 comments

When I set out to run a book club for teens at a community center in a low income apartment complex, I thought it would be a piece of cake.

 

I know, I know. Naïve much?



At the time, I was working fifteen hours a week for the children’s program at Community Partners of Affordable Housing, an organization that fights poverty on many levels. As a teen author, I gravitated toward the middle grade and teen members of the community and starting a book club seemed like a natural fit.

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My goal in starting the book club was simple…I wanted the kids to love reading as much as I did. Literacy has always been important to me and this was a way I could share what I loved with others. So I spoke to the powers that be, got the go ahead and started in. A few things became immediately apparent:

First off, free books wouldn’t be enough to fill up the signup sheet. I needed something more. So I decided food would be the draw. Teens love food!

Secondly, coming up with eight to ten of the same books wasn’t easy. Authors often don’t get that many books and most of what we get is earmarked for contests and such. It was during this time that I found out just how awesome the teen lit community is and actually had authors buy other authors books for the club. Amazing.

And third, I would lean on my local fellow teen authors for free visits.

It worked like a charm. Suddenly my spots filled up and I had ten happy, hungry teens. I couldn’t have any more than that as I wasn’t sure I would be able to come up with nine months of free books every year for ten teens, let alone more.

The book club ran for almost four years. I watched several of my teens go from freshmen to proud graduates, overcoming obstacles that most of us couldn’t even imagine. Running a book club for teens at a community center was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done … even if I did feel like a fish out of water more than once.

 A few of the things I learned:

*No matter how much you’re enjoying yourself, someone has to remain firmly in charge. It amazed me just how quickly something fun, such as a spitwad blown through a straw, could disintegrate into a food fight. I know this seems elementary, but it still took me by surprise.

*I tried to offer new food experiences… once we had an English tea and another time we had both cheese and chocolate fondue. Once a year we would do a potluck and they would share their favorite foods…I think it helped them take ownership of our club.

* Two to three times a year I would choose a book from a local author and we would have them come to visit. The visitor would come a bit later so that I could make sure the kids had prepped. They LOVED meeting authors.

* Too my surprise, they loved reading out loud and always asked to do it. I never made someone read but after passing a couple of times, everyone would overcome their shyness, even the kids to whom English was a second language.

One of the things I had to come to grips with is the transitory nature of friendships with teens. They grow up. They move on. Out of the ten kids that started book club with me, three of them are confirmed readers. Two have gone on to higher education, making them the first in their families to do so and I feel confident the third will as soon as she graduates. I’ve lost touch with the others, but hope that they remember our time together with fondness and are still reading books for the love of reading.

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown
June 11, 2013 by Balzer & Bray
Read more on Goodreads.com
 
Teri Brown is proud of her two children but coming in a close second is the fact that she parachuted out of a plane and beat the original Legend of Zelda video game. She is the author of the Summerset Abbey Series, a New Adult Edwardian trilogy she writes under TJ Brown and the author of Born of Illusion, a Young Adult novel coming out in June 2013 from Balzer +Bray. You can find her at www.tjbrownbooks.com or www.Teribrownbooks.com.

Filed under: Book Clubs, Born of Illusion, Teen Programming, Teri Brown, Uncategorized

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About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

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Comments

  1. Laurie says

    March 14, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    I'm just in my third year of the teen book club. I've pretty much had the same crew and most of them are in grade 11 or 12. It has been fantastic & I look forward to it probably more than they do ! Plus, teen books are so great, I rarely read adult anymore. I work it that I pick the first book of the season ( September) & then they each choose a month. It usually works out perfectly. Now, I have some 12-13 year-olds joining & although I'm happy about a new 'crop', I have this secret feeling like I don't want to lose the older group because of too many young'uns. It will work out, it always does! Thanks
    Laurie
    Perth Library

  2. Kym says

    March 14, 2013 at 4:04 pm

    Next week will be my third month with a teen book club, but I have kids that range from 9 years old (advanced reader) to 17. I ran into the issue that so many kids who I approached about the teen book club said that they didn't like the book I'd chosen, or it was below their reading level so this month I've created the Free Read Teen book club. Teens read a book of their choosing and we discuss, compare, and trade. I hope this works. I always bring chips and juice and things like that but maybe I should bump it up to pizza or something.

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