Should You Give Your Book Club Questions Beforehand?

A few months ago, I received a question from a reader asking me if I recommend providing book groups the questions before the discussion meeting [like a week or so before]. And my answer was complicated enough that I wanted to publish it here on the blog too.

If forced to answer only yes or no, with no qualification, I would go with, NO.

Why "No?"

Well, the simplest answer is the reason many group members ask for the questions ahead of time is because they are really just seeking more information to help them prep for the discussion. They don't actually want to prepare answers to exactly what you are going to ask, but they also don't want to be caught off guard. They don't know how to ask for the in between.

Now some may actually want the questions so they can prepare long responses ahead of time. This is the first reason why I encourage you NOT to do that. You absolutely do not want people to work on their answers because it will remove the spontaneity of the discussion. People will be less willing to let the discussion go from topic to topic naturally and instead, will be tied to the questions you gave them and the order they appeared in, even if only in the back of their minds. The key to better discussions is in how you, as the leader, manage the flow.

Second, those who get the questions and prepare answers will dominate the discussion and there will be less room for those who did not prepare to share their thoughts.

Third, often the best moments in a discussion are when someone thinks of an entirely new idea based off of what someone else said. And, with 20+ years of leading book discussions under my belt, I can tell you that those are often comments that are not tied to any prepared question.

Now, I do still need to address the issue I brought up at the start of this post, that often people ask for the questions ahead of time because they are craving a little more context about the book and think that questions are the best way to get there.

Of course your most curious book club members know to Google the author or title, and in fact, they do already and bring things they learned to the group. But, on the flip side, experience shows that some of those participants find untrustworthy or completely irrelevant information to share and/or they hijack the discussion with their "research," good or bad, and then the group gets off topic making it harder for you the steer the ship.

So, I suggested to this library worker back when she sent me the question, and now to all of you, that when you introduce the next book to your group that you also include a few prescreened interviews or tangental information about the book [reviews, articles, info about the frame, etc...] for members who are interested.

I present for example, the ARRT Book Club Study page for the Upcoming Discussion. If you are looking at it in this post's present [May 2020] you will see this for our upcoming discussion of Song of Achilles by Miller:

Links to Peruse Prior to the Discussion: 

To read the Illiad’s version of the climactic actions during the war, start at the Illiad, book 16 (from Samuel Butler’s translation): http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.16.xvi.html 

An introduction from the author: https://youtu.be/lTl8ZUTKOdo 

A guide to the characters, reader’s guide, and information about the historic Troy from the author: http://madelinemiller.com/find-out-more/ 

About the archaeological site believed to be Troy: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/aug/09/lost-cities-2-search-real-troy-hisarlik-turkey-mythology-homer-iliad

But even if you encounter this post in the future, the link will still bring you to whatever the next book we are discussion is and there will be information under "Links to Peruse Prior to the Discussion" for that title. You should consider emailing these out to members and posting it on your library homepage to promote the book discussion. Feel free to use the ARRT Book Club Study Upcoming Discussion page as a template too.

The entire reason the Book Club Study program and the materials we post on the web exist is to help you make your job as a book discussion leader easier. As you will see, it changes with each title, both in obvious ways as the books change, but also, since we change who is leading the discussion each quarter, the type of information each leader chooses to share is different. Again this is done on purpose so that a variety of styles are modeled.

Returning to the start of this post, the caveat to my "No" about providing questions ahead of time is to instead, try to provide something for people to look at if they want. Give them information that will enhance, not distract from a dynamic discussion. Save the questions themselves for the discussion.

One final editors note: I pulled this post out of my draft pile. I had been meaning to get to it, but you know, other things became more pressing. However, now book discussions are a hot topic once again [YAY!]. I have 3 book club trainings in the coming weeks and will be hosting a book discussion for book discussion leaders next month over Zoom.

Many library workers are concerned that Zoom book clubs will be very different from in person, but I want to tell you that of all of the meetings and programs we have moved online, book clubs are the least effected-- if you use the same rules and procedures you would institute in person. For example, the biggest no-no for a zoom book discussions is letting too many people in at a time. You still need to keep it to 25 max, although the sweet spot is 12-17.

I will have a lot more to say about this in the coming weeks as I work with libraries on book discussion training and participate in Zoom book clubs as both an attendee and a leader. But in the meantime, if you have a specific question, please contact me and I can get back to you. And who knows, maybe your question will become a post one day too.