Spokane County Library District has partnered with PBC Guru to create a virtual book club for customers and the community who are interested in lifelong learning and personal growth and reading fiction, nonfiction, and other genres. In the book club's private, online forum, participants can discuss the current book and network with each other.
by Penny Haw
1. Increase Your Connection to the Spokane County Library District Community: Our facilitated book club will broaden your connection to new ideas while also introducing you to members of your community from across industries, generations, and geographies. The connections and friends you make may help you find your next opportunity or assist you in reaching your goals.
2. Embrace Lifelong Learning and Growth: Get exposed to titles you might not typically read. Gain new perspectives through engaging and thought-provoking online discussions. Increase your access to dynamic learning and personal growth opportunities when it fits your individual schedule.
3. Reading is Good for You: Reading can reduce stress, help you sleep better, and improve your relationships [1]. Did we mention it also makes you smarter? Reading increases your verbal intelligence, reasoning ability, emotional intelligence, and your creativity. It has even proven to defend against Alzheimer's disease [2].
Below are a few examples of the kind of books the group may read. We will vote between several options each period and select a book based on reader interests.
We plan to read one book every two to three months. The titles selected will be fiction, nonfiction, and other genres, may include topics on lifelong learning and personal growth, and take an average of nine hours to read cover to cover. If you have between 1 and 2 hours a week to read you should be fine.
No, the book club will be entirely online. You can participate anywhere you have internet access and on days and times that are convenient to you.
Participation is free for everyone! Don't have a card? Sign up online for a free eLibrary card here.
In-district library cardholders can get the eBook version of the book selection with no waiting or holds using the digital resource Freading once they are signed up for the book club. All participants can check out books at no cost from their local library or purchase them from a book vendor.
The book club will have a moderator from PBC Guru who manages the forum where discussions occur online. The moderator will pose questions to the book club, share relevant articles, and facilitate conversation about topics in the book. Members will be encouraged to post and share as well. This format allows for ongoing conversation and makes it easy for readers to connect with each other through the forum.
We're using a private forum to host the virtual book club so it's easy to connect with the community. During our sign up process, you will enter your information to auto-generate your free profile. After you complete the sign up, we'll send you a link to the forum and you can begin to post right away!
Professional Book Club (PBC) Guru is a book club management company that works with businesses, alumni associations, and professional societies. We are teaming up with PBC to put this program in place for library customers and the community. You can check out their website at www.pbc.guru if you want to see more of what they do.
If you are already a member, you can click here to log in.
Feel free to send an email to info@pbc.guru and we will be happy to help.
1 The Expert Editor, 2016, https://experteditor.com.au/blog/brain-books-benefits-reading/
2 Harvard Business Review, 2012, https://hbr.org/2012/08/for-those-who-want-to-lead-rea/