The Book Club Kit collection was started by the Cedar Mill Community Library in 2008 through a grant from the Washington County Arts, Heritage and Humanities Coalition and the Oregon Cultural Trust. Our goal is to enhance cultural awareness and build a stronger community through reading and discussion, particularly through local book groups.
Each kit includes 8-10 copies of a book along with supplemental materials that may include reading guides, author biography, information about the country where the book takes place, movie adaptations of the book and more.
There are many great websites devoted to assisting book clubs. Here are just a few of them:
www.bookmovement.com – site devoted to connecting book groups and allowing them to recommend books to each other. Reading guides, rankings of book group favorites, and contest/prize offers are features. They have graciously offered to let us use their reading guides in our kits.
www.book-clubs-resource.com - good overall book club resource, tips on book groups, where to find guides, free offers and more.
www.readinggroupguides.com – site with many reading guides
www.bookbrowse.com – site that tries to replicate the experience of browsing through a bookstore for new books.
Books about book clubs in our libraries
Reading Group Choices (new edition each year) 015.73 READING
A Year of Reading: a Month-by-month Guide to Classics and Crowd-pleasers for You and Your Book Group by Elisabeth Ellington & Jane Freimiller 011.73 ELL
1001 Books for Any Mood by Hallie Ephron 011.73 EPH
The Book Club Cookbook: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club’s Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy 641.5 GEL
The Book Club Companion: a Comprehensive Guide to the Reading Group Experience by Diana Loevy 374.22 LOEVY
The Reader’s Choice: 200 Book Club Favorites by Victoria McMains 028.1 GOL
Book Lust and More Book Lust by Nancy Pearl 011.7 PEA
What to Read: the Essential Guide for Reading Group Members and Other Book Lovers by Mickey Pearlman 015.73 PEA
The New York Public Library Guide to Reading Groups by Rollene Saal 374.22 SAAL
The Book Group Book: a Thoughtful Guide to Forming and Enjoying a Stimulating Book Discussion Group by Ellen Slezak 374.22 SLEZAK
You can help us with future book club kits!
If your group has read a book that provoked a particularly good discussion, let us know. Consider donating your book(s) to us so that we can start a new kit. Please contact us at the adult services department, 503-644-0043 x131, if you have suggestions about what we could add to the kits or what new kits we could start.
