Your NEW Tween Book Club 2016

15/1/2016

The new year is here, and your Book Club Launch is only weeks away!

You could start in February, but the first few weeks of school are crazy for children and their parents. If you plan to host your Book Club somewhere in the last two weeks of each month, you'll be fine - but think about whether you want to have a Christmas Party at the end of the year. Too close to Christmas is too stressful for everyone.

After trial and error, I began the book clubs in March of each year - (on the first Thursday of the month). It missed out a busy February and we got to have our Christmas Party before the silly season really got underway.

Unless you have a waiting list from the previous year, you will want new members for the new year.

Current members may have siblings, cousins and friends who have turned 8 over the holiday/Christmas break, who are keen to come along.

To find more members you can put a notice in your/local school newsletter/s about your Book Club.
Find out when the schools are re-opening. Office staff are often back on deck a few days before school begins. Ring and ask if you can advertise your New Book Club in their first newsletter for the year.

Make sure you include:

- Contact Details to enable any interested parents to ask any questions

- What you will be doing at Bookclub eg. talking about books, games, quizzes, prizes

- Age group eg. 8-12 years

- Where / Date / Time

- Cost (You could charge $5-$10 per year which would cover the prizes/books etc. This is good value for an entire year, or it can be FREE. It's entirely up to you.

- What to bring. Start with something simple for the first bookclub of the year. Ask members to bring their favourite book they have read over the holidays.

So now you have your notice out for new members, you should let all your current members (from the previous year), know when your next bookclub is and what to bring. I would email them in a newsletter type format (Mailchimp is great for this - and free to use).

The first activity for the year would always be a Classics Quiz. I used different questions every year to keep things fresh for my current members.