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Start a Club
Starting and Running Your Own Book Budds Book Club
The following guidelines have been written to assist you in developing your own Book Budds book club. Don’t feel that you need to follow every step as it is written; do
what works best for you and your members. We want you to have fun, and we are here to
help! Feel free to click here and
send us e-mail
with comments, suggestions and questions.
- Find an adult sponsor who is willing to
help plan meetings and serve as a discussion leader, if needed. Consider asking a trusted
parent, teacher, librarian, or another interested adult.
- Find 6 to 12 girls who are around the same
age/reading level and are interested in reading the same books and getting together for
regular meetings. If you’re not sure who to invite, think about friends, classmates,
neighbors, Girl Scout sisters, team mates, etc. If you still don’t have enough girls,
you could ask girls if they have other friends who would be interested.
- Decide on the duration of your book club schedule
- you might want to meet for a school year, for a summer, or for a full calendar year -
it’s up to you!
- Set up a meeting schedule. We suggest
meeting once a month; this usually gives members enough time to get and read the book in
time for the meeting. It is easiest to remember when meetings are held on the same day and
time each month (first Monday at 4:00). Remember that every member will probably not be
able to attend every meeting.
- Find a place to hold your meetings. A
member’s home usually works best, or you could rotate meetings among members’
homes. If neither of these options works, your local library may provide a meeting room at
little or no cost for your book club meetings.
- Hold a membership meeting. Invite all
members, adult sponsor, and interested parents. This is your opportunity to get input from
all of the members on how to run your book club. If members have trouble deciding on
things, ask your adult sponsor for guidance.
Decide how books will be chosen:
a. Use Book Budds Monthly Book Picks, which will provide a variety of stories, or
b. Have members choose books. They can be different types of books, or all from one
genre (mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, animal stories, etc.), or
c. Choose each new book as you go - the next month’s book decided at each meeting.
Decide on a format for your meetings. All
you really need to do at a meeting is meet and discuss a book, but why not make it even
more fun? Consider adding different book-related activities each month. The Book Budds
Meeting Handbook will give you lots of creative ideas on how to plan fun meetings!
Choose a Club Secretary who will write up
your club guidelines, keep track of books, and remind members of meeting times and
locations. This person could be a member, adult sponsor, or another parent.
Choose a Meeting Planner to coordinate
each meeting and remind members who are responsible for each part. This could be one
person, or it could rotate among members.
Set up simple meeting guidelines that
keep discussions on track and allow all members to feel at ease during meetings. Have the
Club Secretary write these down and get a copy to each member. A copy of the Book Budds
Meeting Guidelines we use is included in The Book Budds Meeting Handbook.
We highly recommend that members be required to read the assigned book prior
to the meeting.
Congratulations! You have created your Book Budds book club plan! Set your first
meeting date, pick your books, get reading, and have fun!
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