2+Overview


 * Overview (definition, introduction,)**


 * I think we can add our own bookish type banner to the site John's made for us? Maybe something like:**

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 * Or there is quite a variety available through flickr's creative commons search.**

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 * And finally, the animoto that I thought we could use to get people thinking during the introduction...**

I've thrown together a word cloud that we could put somewhere in our presentation.

Faust et al (2005) "Historically, the term book club has been used to refer to a small group of up to a dozen or more adult readers - typically but not exclusively women - who gather periodically to talk about books" (p. xv).

"A book club, as we understand and use the phrase, is an umbrella concept that covers a wide variety of experiences and contexts of reading. Whenever two or more people voluntarily convene on a regular basis for the purpose of talking about their reading, we think it is fair to say they are creating a book club....we are proposing that these experiences - and parallel experiences described by other adults we have met during the past several years - serve as a powerful starting point for explaining what we mean when we say book clubs, whether they take place in academic settings or elsewhere, have potential to enhance reading as a social event without negating the personal space that, for many people, is an essential aspect of what led them to choose lives that include reading" (p. vii).

O'Donnell-Allen (2006) "Entire cities are reading the same book, encouraging their citizens to get in small groups and talk it over, and inviting the author in for lectures at the end. Oprah has revived her book club, and authors and publishers compete to secure her branding, a guarantee that the book will be a bestseller, among women at least. A 2006 Google search turned up about 125 million hits for book clubs as a search term, and books for all ages are now routinely published with book club discussion questions in the back" (p. xvii).

""What's the difference between book clubs and old-fashioned reading groups or literature circles?" My all-purpose answer is that book clubs are small groups of readers that meet on a regular basis to systematically discuss books (and other texts) of the members' choice. These groups use a variety of response methods to prompt and extend book club discussion and membership varies according to the desired configuration. In other words, the key feature of book clubs is flexibility" (p.1).

Timeline dates found so far...feel free to add or delete **Note from Niki: I started trying to put these dates into a Timetoast, but unless I am missing something, you can only use a complete date (with month and day). I am going to assume that many of these dates don't have specific dates. Do you want me to go ahead with creating it? I will continue to explore and see if there is a work around, but it doesn't look promising. Sorry! Niki, don't worry - I'll look for a site that let's us just input years.

1634 – religious renegade Anne Hutchison organizes a female discussion group to examine weekly sermons

1721 – Benjamin Franklin organizes Philadelphia literary society called the Junto – 12 members

Late 1760's – Hannah Adams joins reading circle in Medfield, Massachusettes (read and discussed belle letters as well as their own poetry and prose)

Early 1800's – various groups of women begin meeting regularly to discuss poetry, nonfiction and publications of the day

1826 – first American lyceum is founded (organizes lectures, debates, guest speakers)

1840 – first known book store sponsored club begins in Margaret Fuller's Boston shop

1866 Sarah Atwater Denman starts a women's study group in Quincy, Ill., known as Friends in Council -the oldest continuous literary club in America.

1895 Male reading groups – e.g. The Cadmus Club, Grolier Club in New York, the Club of Odd Volumes in Boston and the Rowfant Club in Cleveland.

1900 women's literary societies are thriving

1926 – Book-of-the-month club began

1934 – Doubleday one dollar book club began

1949 – Book-of-the-month club shipped it's 100 millionth book Okay, I just dumped all of these dates and a few more into this timeglider tool. It's not very pretty in it's final version. I'll try to find something simpler! media type="custom" key="12813870"