By: Meghan Volchko, Public Library Collection Development Manager

If any of you out there are like me, you have a compulsive need to talk about what you are reading with everyone. This has been made quite difficult by my being stuck at home, as I am sure many of you are as well. Being socially distant from my fellow bookish coworkers has forced me to have one-sided book lectures directed towards whomever is around (mostly my cat), rather than robust, interesting conversations about what we are all reading and how large our TBR piles have become over time.

One of the loved, but occasionally forgotten, services that your local library offers is a chance for fellow book lovers to get together from time to time to discuss the ups and downs of a shared read through hosted Book Clubs. In this time at home, while the experience of sharing snacks and coffee while having a great debate on characters and themes cannot happen as it once did, the digital space is wide open for Book Clubs to reach your patrons and beyond!

Our OverDrive Staff Librarians and Marketing team recently presented a full-length webinar, Stay Connected: Digital Book Clubs for Your Library, on this exact topic. It covers the full experience, from picking a title to working with your Account Manager to get it in your library’s collection to running the program and marketing it to your users. We hit full-capacity for registration weeks before the event, so many of you probably did not have the chance to join us live, but the full recording is here for you!

I am not alone in my longing to talk about books with my peers, but libraries still have the opportunity to reach their bibliophile patrons from afar and to help them scratch that itch that has been building while they are cooped up indoors. After you run a successful Digital Book Club, we would love to hear your experiences!

Stay safe and healthy.