Pizza and Pages
Book Club
A Book Discussion Project by Ryann Uden for LIS404LE, Spring 2005
Pizza and Pages will be a teen summer book discussion group that meets at the library from 5:00-6:30 p.m. each Thursday night in June and July (approximately eight weeks). Each meeting will consist of a discussion of that week’s book selection and a pizza dinner provided by the library. All area middle school students going into the sixth, seventh, or eighth grades in the fall will be invited to attend. The program will not be advertised as a parent/child program. It is designed to create discussion between middle school students and will be facilitated by a librarian from the Young People’s Services department.
An important aspect of this program will be to build
a core group of participants that continues through each week. To
encourage this, an attempt will be made to have the same librarian
facilitate each discussion and incentives will be offered for those who
continue to participate throughout the summer. One incentive will
be to raffle off prizes (such as library galley copies) at the last
meeting. One chance will be offered for each week that a person
attends the group discussion. Additional prizes could be given
for those who attend all eight meetings (small bookstore gift card).
Discussing books is not always an easy thing to do, so creating a
comfortable environment among the participants will also be
important. Nametags will be provided for each participant, and
each session will begin with a short ice breaker activity. Next,
students will be invited to eat pizza while we begin the
discussion. We will sit at tables facing each other in a circle
or square arrangement for the discussion. Following the
discussion, the book for the next meeting will be introduced. The
order of events might be altered after the first few meetings in
response to feedback received from the participants.
Books Selection:
The books chosen and their scheduled order are listed below. The books selected are all from the “Teen Zone” area at the Barrington Area Library, an area typically described as being geared toward students in grades 6-8. These specific books were chosen because they provide many topics for discussion, include a variety of genres, and are personal favorites of the discussion leader. An additional consideration was the length of the book given the fact that the club will be reading a different book each week.
Participants will be given the option to check out a book discussion bag for the summer so students can read ahead if they are interested. Titles that are available in paperback (reducing the expense to the library when buying additional copies) will be chosen when possible, but it is not a required element for a particular book. Very new books, such as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, will not be chosen since they will be very difficult to obtain from other libraries.
Week 1:
Surviving
the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan.
Week
2:
Rewind
by William Sleator.
Week
3:
Esperanza
Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan.
Week
4:
When
No One Was Looking by Rosemary Wells.
Week
5:
The
View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg.
Week
6:
The
Thief by Megan Whalen Turner.
Week
7:
B
for Buster by Iain Lawrence.
Week
8:
Walk
Two Moons
by Sharon Creech.
The links above include additional information for each of the titles, including a brief synopsis and a variety of discussion questions. The discussion questions are intended to provide multiple opportunities for discussion. However, the number of questions used each week will depend on the flow of conversation and topics. A few general questions will be asked from week to week:
1. How did you like this book?
2. Do any of you have any questions that you would like to ask about this novel?
3. Would you recommend this to your friends? Do you think future book clubs would enjoy reading this title?
Important Considerations:
The expense of the program and the number of attendees will be two large factors in determining the program’s success. Providing pizza for middle school students each week could get costly, depending upon the overall amount budgeted for teen programming. As worthwhile as a program this would be, it would be unfortunate if this was the only summer program available for teens. Furthermore, the possibility of seeking sponsorship or donations from local pizza restaurants could be investigated after consulting with library administration.
The primary concern related to this program would be how to attract and retain participants. In order to provide books and order adequate food, registration (online, telephone or in person) would be necessary. It would be ideal for participants to sign up for all eight weeks, but some students may only want to attend certain weeks due to reading preferences and summer schedules. Creating book discussion bags with a copy of each of the books for patrons to check out would be a great convenience for patrons and hopefully increase participation. Additionally, friends of the participants who have not read the book will be allowed to attend in the hope that they will participate in future programs.
Advertising will be very important in making participants aware of the program. Every spring, the Barrington Area Library creates a flyer listing all of the summer programs (for every age) and this flyer is distributed to students at every school. For this program, additional advertising in the form of posters at the middle schools (library, bulletin boards, and English classrooms), and at the library (kiosk and teen zone bulletin board) will be implemented. A smaller version of this poster will be inserted into every teen summer reading club folder for additional exposure to the information. An attempt will also be made to include information about the program in school and PTA newsletters.
Evaluation
Evaluating this program will be vital to determining its success and future. Balancing the number of participants with the expense of the program will be a part of considering how to approach the program in the future. Feedback from the participants themselves will be very important. Each week participants will be invited to provide feedback on the books chosen. At the end of the eight weeks, participants will be asked to complete a short survey with questions about the books chosen and discussions held. The survey will also ask for their ideas for future book selections and future programming ideas. A book discussion program such as this has the potential to be a very enjoyable and rewarding experience for both library staff and patrons and it is worth every effort to create the best program possible.