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Book Club Resources

 Calling all local books groups! The Ridgefield Library is happy to announce a service for local book clubs called Book Club Corner. We’ve initiated this service in response to the ever-growing number of local book discussion groups and the demand for multiple copies of popular book club choices.

Here’s how it works. Ten copies of each title added to the Book Club Corner are available for local book groups. You can reserve the number of these copies you need for your group. The requested copies will be available for pick-up by a designated person in the group, or each person can check out an individual copy at the circulation desk, where the books will be kept under the name of your club. Books can be borrowed for 28 days and renewed once,  if no one else has already reserved the title for their group.

 Our current group of Book Club Corner selections.

The “Book Club Corner Shelf” includes reference materials for book clubs that contain helpful suggestions on how to start and maintain a book group. 

In addition, when multiple copies of a book are not available at the Ridgefield Library, an interlibrary loan may be possible.  Please allow a minimum of two weeks to obtain books from other libraries.  Bestsellers and books published within the last year are generally not available through interlibrary loan.

The Book Club Corner is located on the second floor of the library in the Adult Fiction Room. Please consult with Adult Services Librarian Dorothy Pawlowski about any questions or suggestions regarding the Book Club Corner, or
e-mail.

If you aren’t already a member of a book group, click here for resources which may give you the impetus to start one. Or, try one of the Library’s monthly drop-in book groups, the A.M. Book Group, Critics’ Circle Book Group and Tuesday Evening Nonfictioneers. For more information about any of these groups, please call 438-2282 ex. 1003.

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Online Resources for Book Groups

These are among the many book and reading-related sites accessible through the Internet that are useful for selecting books for discussion, obtaining reviews and information about authors, and for searching for background material to help lead a book group.

The following sites require a valid Ridgefield Library card to log on from this website.

Literature Resource Center This electronic library of literary resources includes literary criticism, author biographies, bibliograpies, overviews of authors' works and links to other websites.
iCONN Links to online resources including What Do I Read Next, iCONN Newsstand (with full-text coverage of many newspapers including The New York Times), and Wilson Biographies Plus.  Includes extensive periodical databases such as InfoTrac OneFile, General Reference Center Gold and Expanded Academic ASAP.
Novelist Contains over 1,200 pre-constructed booklists, book discussion guides and "Read-alikes" a powerful new resource which describes an author's appeal and style and then defines how the suggested 'read-alikes' are selected based on the traits described for the author.

The following sites are available on the Internet.  Please be aware that there is no guarantee that information on these sites is correct and reliable.

Author Yellowpages This searchable directory of authors' web sites makes it a resource for author information.
Bookmuse Includes book group tips, author interviews, book suggestions and other resources for book groups.  Access to some parts of the site requires a subscription.
Bookpage This online version includes reviews of books and interviews with authors.  Includes up to 100 new book reviews per month and various author-related material.
Book Reporter Includes book reviews, author interviews and information, features on selected themes and genres and links to other sites for booklovers
Bookspot Click on "Book Discussion Center" for links to online discussion groups, publishers' guides, tips for book groups. lists of swards, bestsellers and more.
Mostly Fiction Includes reviews of old and new books, bibliographies of authors' works, author interviews and biographical information.
Readers Club This web site of the Charlotte & Mecklenburg County Library in North Carolina is a treasure trove of information about books, authors, reading resources and reviews.
Reading group choices Includes discussion questions for selected books, author biographies and background information on running a book group.
Reading group guides Another great site for book suggestions, discussion questions and all things related to running a book discussion group.
Reviews of books This web site compiles reviews of new books.  The goal is to include at least three objectives reviews written by a professional writer or critic on each title.  Also includes books released in the UK.

Print Resources

The following titles are available for borrowing from the Book Club Corner.

Jacobson, Rachel W.  The Reading Group Handbook.  New York: Hyperion, 1998.
Laskin, David.  The Reading Group Book: The Complete Guide to Starting and Sustaining A Reading
     Group. New York: Plume Books, 1995.
Pearlmann, Mickey.  What to Read:  The Essential Guide for Reading Group Members and Other
     Readers.  New York: HarperCollins, 1999.
Slezak, Ellen, ed.  The Book Group Book:  A Thoughtful Guide to Forming and Enjoying a Stimulating
     Book Discussion Group.  Chicago: Chicago Free Press Review, 2000.

Also:  Reading Group Choices:  Selections for Lively Book Discussions -- multiple copies of these guides, from 2001, 2003 and 2004, complete with book recommendations with discussion questions are available for loan.  

The Ridgefield Library offers biographies of some authors, Current Biography, Contemporary Authors and Book Review Digest among other sources of information to enrich your discussions.  Ask a librarian for assistance in locating these materials. 
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