RA FOR ALL...THE ROAD SHOW!

I can come to your library, book club meeting, or conference to talk about how to help your readers find their next good read. Click here for more information including RA for All's EDI Statement.

Monday, November 11, 2024

Newly Updated Recharge Your Books Club Program with Slide Access

I am slowly trying to get back into the work groove after 10 days in Amsterdam and Barcelona. Not gonna lie, it was much easier to process my emotions over there. 

But I'm back now and I am sure current events will start to play into how we serve leisure readers and I know it will factor into my planned end of the year presentation with NoveList and my looking ahead to 2025 presentation offered though PCI, but until then, it is back to your regularly scheduled programming here on RA for All.

Later this week I am presenting Recharge Your Book Club for the first time in 2 years. It is completely updated so I thought I would share the new slides here and below.

For those who are unfamiliar with this presentation, here is the description:

Re-Charge Your Book Club:

Becky has been leading  book clubs for 25 years and has seen it all. In this program she will share her tips and tricks for success. All book groups go through their ups and downs, but re-energizing your group is not as hard as it may seem. Becky will walk you through how to confidently identify and utilize the best resources for leading a book discussion, pick books that will engender the best conversations, lead a more interactive discussion even with the most jaded of groups. Let her show you how to take control, shake things up, and rediscover why you started the group in the first place. 60-90mins

One of the things I bring to the discussion of book club leadership is the importance of managing the group dynamic. I have 24 years of experience leading multiple groups in many situations and while we talk about the nuts and bolts of having dynamic conversations, it is my serious discussion of how to best manage the group dynamics which are unique to my training program.

With this huge update to the program, I am hoping to bring it to the attention of more library systems. It is a great option to bring together library workers across a larger geographical area, to allow those who lead discussions-- many of whom are the only ones who do it at their library-- and give them the space to share experiences and build community. 

It is interesting, I get requests from individual library workers ALL OF THE TIME to offer this program. I send them the information and they connect with their CE people, but more often than not, this program doesn't get scheduled. The people in charge of training think it is too niche since it is only a person or 2 at each building who does book discussions. These same people often book my more general programs and not this one. 

However, as I discuss in this training program, book discussions are one of the most important programs you can offer at your library, and precisely because it is more of a 1 or 2 people per building program, the  needs of those leading them are often ignored. 

Let me know if you are interested in offering this talk to your system or entire state. Now that I have a full update, it is ready to go immediately for your library or system. I will make time throughout the end of the year to offer this if people need it or want it. 

While rates for my 60-90 minute programs now start at $500, I will offer this program for $400 if booked from now through the end of the year. That means booking it by the end of the year, to be presented anytime from now until September 2025. I know that some  budgets end on December 31 while others June 30, so this gives everyone time  to take advantage of extra money in this year's budget cycle OR get in on the next year's budget.

Either way, the slides are here (and below) for all to see and use for free. Lots of links and freshly updated information for all. 


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