Book Club

                The book club I attended was a rather informal affair at a public library. The main focus of the group was graphic novels, and the series they were reading when I attended was the manga Full Metal Alchemist. I have read some of this series, but have not finished it in its completion. A young female librarian ran the group, which consisted mainly of young adults and a few older group members. It was very clear by the jovial atmosphere that this particular book club did not follow a strict structure, and tended to lean more towards the causal side. The librarian insisted that it was not required for participants to have read the series they were discussing, but made it clear that members should have a love of graphic novels. I have always been in love with graphic novels since I was exposed to them, so that was an easy requirement to fulfill. The group met in the large library meeting room and had a large table with chairs set up. The librarian had brought several copies of the Full Metal Alchemy manga the library had on hand spread across the table top. Many of the group members stood off to the side talking amiably with one another while they waited for the club to start, while others just found a seat at the table and pulled out a book to read. The librarian was very friendly and excited, making her way around to greet everyone who came in. She knew several of the regular attendees by name and made small talk with them as people filtered in. I took a seat at the table and chatted with a young woman who was very excited about the manga series. She explained that it was one of her favorites and had brought it up with the librarian as a potential topic.

                The book club ran a total of one hour, from four o’clock in the evening to five. As the group sat down for the actual discussion, it became clear that the group gathered together to socialize as much as to talk about the actual manga series. A great deal of the conversation did revolve around manga, and its animated counterpart of Anime. The librarian led the majority of the conversation, starting the group off with a discussion on what they really enjoyed so far in the series, and who their favorite characters were. The book group was more than happy to discuss their favorite aspects of the Full Metal Alchemist series. The woman I had sat near in the beginning who had recommended the book was especially vocal in the conversation. The conversation was very organic in its flow, and several group members tended to drift off topic in the conversation. One of the young gentlemen attending was occasionally disruptive in the discussion by intentionally pulling the conversation to other graphic novel series or personal conversations. The librarian did do a good job of pulling the group back on track by leading everyone back into the topic at hand by finding a way to relate what the group had derailed to back to Full Metal Alchemist with some open-ended questions. She managed to keep everyone in the group engaged, occasionally pulling someone into the dialogue with a line of questioning, and overall the atmosphere throughout was very relaxed and pleasant. Even though I had not finished the series, I was able to participate with everyone.

                This book club did have a lot going well for it in my opinion. According to “Starting a Book Club”, they club has a lot of the requirements fulfilled for starting an effective book club. They have a good location at a public library, and they have firmly settled on discussing the graphic novel genre. They meet once a month, and have a young adult target audience. Many of the group members seem like repeat attenders, so they have an active following. All of this bodes really well for the group. I had an enjoyable time attending, and would probably go again sometime. They should work on a more permanent name for their club though, because it was just listed as a Graphic Novels Book Club event. I think if they gave it a catchy name it might draw in more people. Overall, it was a fairly informal affair but incredibly friendly.

References:

"Starting a Book Club." I Love Libraries. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2017.