Book clubs
Find suggested titles for discussion, including book club kits and eBooks, as well as tips for starting and leading your own book club. Participate in a book discussion led by library staff.
Book club kits
Using book club kits
- Book club kits contain 8-10 copies of a single title.
- Kits are checked out for six weeks and may not be renewed.
- A kit is checked out to one patron who is responsible for all of the materials. Fees for missing books will be charged to the patron who checked out the kit.
- Kits must be returned to a Hennepin County library service desk during open hours and cannot be returned in a book drop.
- You can place a hold on a kit and have it sent to any Hennepin County library location for pickup.
- Please Ask Us if you have any questions.
Tips for book clubs
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- Search for discussion questions online. Publishers and authors sometimes publish discussion guides for their books.
- Invite people to share any discussion questions they come up with ahead of time.
- Identify a thought-provoking passage from the book to share and discuss.
- Decide if you need a moderator or discussion leader. This person can share questions and guide the conversation back to the book as needed.
- Consider reading outside your comfort zone. Try a variety of genres or pick a theme and explore it.
- Pick titles that are available in trade paperback and/or other formats like eBooks or audiobooks. It will be easier to find such titles in your local library as well as for purchase
- Wait until hot titles cool down before you read them. Current bestsellers often have long waiting lists at libraries.
- Identify good discussion books with the help of your local library, book club resources on the Web, social media and celebrity book clubs, magazines, and other resources. Check out our book club kits lists and the eBooks lists here at Hennepin County Library for ideas.
- Ask Us to reserve multiple copies of books for you if you want to check them out on behalf of your fellow book club members. This only applies to physical and not digital formats.
- Talk about how you want to pick your books. By vote? Letting the host pick the title? Taking turns? Drawing a name from a hat?
- Decide how far ahead you want to pick your choices. Choosing for a whole year can be limiting. Try to build some flexibility into your schedule so you can respond to new titles, current events or changing circumstances for your book club members.
- Consider choosing two or three titles ahead at a time to allow people to read at their own pace or to have a chance to get titles from the library in time.
- Book clubs work best when there are enough people for a discussion even if some people can’t make the meeting, and yet not feel overwhelming if you have a full house. Generally, that means between 8 and 16 people.
- Set up a pattern for meeting. Discuss with the group whether monthly, every other month or even quarterly meetings would be best.
- Talk about how you want to pick hosts for the discussion. Ask for volunteers? Ask members to take turns?
- Decide where you want to hold your discussions. It doesn’t always have to be in someone’s home. Meeting in parks, libraries, coffee shops, etc. would also be options.