How do you host a book club during social distancing?

September 11, 2020 · by Dear Librarian · in Our Dear Library

Unfortunately, book club meetings have suffered during the pandemic. There’s always Zoom, but some people are Zoomed out by the time discussing a book comes along. In my community, the consensus was to wait until we could meet again–which is now! I run a high school teacher book club, and we are all back on campus. With the approval of my principal, I am able to host a book club centered around The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.

First off, what a brilliant book! I read it when it first came out, and then I was the one who recommended it for us to read. Imagine my surprise, when it was voted for one of our books this year. Since I knew there was a dynamic ending, but I couldn’t quite remember all the details, I most recently listened to the novel. Oh! Just as fantastic. I love when different voices are used; this book will be added to my favorite audiobooks’ post.

Social Distancing Book Club

There are a couple of social distancing requirements that must be met in order to host a book club:

Obviously, we must remain social distant;

The food must be pre-packaged;

When we are not eating, our masks must be worn.

Here’s what I did in order to meet the needs for remaining socially distant:

I arranged the furniture so that we are all one meter apart;

I chose a menu that included as much prepackaged food as possible;

I sent out an order form, so I knew exactly what each person would like in advance;

I loaded a table with extra packaged food and drink items;

Finally, I set up microphones and a speaker in case we needed better audio for discussing.

The book club was a success!
Everyone was so jolly just to be with one another. We did discuss the book; however discussions went off-topic frequently as we were happy to be reunited after some time.