Libraries for the Blind and Print Disabled

Our primary goals for the GLS book clubs are to encourage GLS readers to explore diverse genres, authors, and writing styles, and to foster connections among fellow GLS readers through shared reading experiences and discussions.

GLS has five virtual book clubs, each led by a volunteer GLS user or a GLS staff member. These include one group exclusively for female readers, one for male readers, and three co-ed groups. Each book club session, lasting between 60 and 90 minutes, is conducted via Zoom or conference call. Each book club typically comprises 3 to 8 members. We advise patrons to contact us directly for upcoming meeting schedules.

All books selected for discussion are sourced from the NLS collection, and members are encouraged to suggest titles. GLS assists members with downloading their chosen books. Additionally, GLS staff meet with group facilitators to exchange ideas and offer recommendations.

The Book Club meets the second Saturday of the month for 90 minutes. Our reading choices can include fiction, nonfiction or biographies selected by participants at the end of the meeting. The group chooses books for up to five months ahead.

Staff creates cartridges containing all of the upcoming selections and provides instruction on using Bookshelf to navigate among titles. For patrons who ask not to use the bookshelf feature, staff provides individual titles for those patrons.

In our monthly email blast, we include a list of San Francisco Public Library branch book club selections that are available in an accessible format, either NLS recording or downloadable Overdrive audiobook. This is to support our patrons who may want to participate at neighborhood branches near their homes or with club focused on specific interests or needs, such as mystery, world literature or Spanish language.

Our Book Club is currently meeting six times per year (every couple of months). We always have it on a Thursday or Tuesday at 7:00 pm Central time and it lasts one hour via conference call. We have a toll-free phone number so those of our patrons that want to participate can call in from anywhere in Texas. They don't need to have a computer or any type of special technology. All they need is a phone.

We send an email blast six weeks before the date of each book club. We also announce the book club dates and titles via our Newsletter and our blog. Patrons contact us if they want to RSVP. We send them the book on cartridge, or they download the title from BARD, depending on their preference. One week before the book club, the patrons that RSVPd get a reminder via email or phone (or both if they wish).

We try to pick varied titles: fiction, non-fiction, adventure, romance, classics, historical fiction, literary fiction, etc. Best sellers are a big one, too. We usually have a list of questions to generate discussion and we always have a lively, chatty crowd with stimulating conversation. Our patrons like it and we do too.