You can continue to stay connected with a book club while our physical locations are closed. Read more to learn how!
Virtual Book Club
Missing your regular book club? Looking for other ways to connect while maintaining social distance? While we can't provide coffee or snacks at this book club, we can provide the virtual space for you to catch up with other book lovers.
Join us every Friday at 3:00pm for an online book discussion on Discord to share what you’ve been reading and connect with other book lovers! Bring your beverage of choice and the books you've been reading under quarantine and join us online at: https://discord.gg/QVkDZ8u
You'll be prompted to create an account with Discord.
Information for Book Clubs in Isolation
Did you know that there are over 150 book clubs in Guelph that borrow book club sets from us at the library? While our doors are currently closed for physical borrowing, we know how important book club are in our community.
Finding eBooks for your book club:
cloudLibrary offers downloadable eBooks and eAudiobooks. There is no monthly limit for checkouts, but there are a limited quantity of books available. Several titles do have multiple copies that can work for book clubs.
Hoopla has a monthly limit of 7 checkouts, but does allow simultaneous access, so all book club members can read the same book at the same time. Additionally, hoopla is currently offering a Bonus Borrows Collection where any item borrowed from this collection will not count towards your total monthly borrows. Hoopla also offers the Hoopla Book Club Hub which features one book club title every quarter available with unlimited checkouts. The highlighted book will feature a discussion guide and exclusive Q&A with the author. This quarter’s selection is The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai.
AudioBookCloud and RomanceBookCloud are offering free simultaneous access.
Cantook Station offers French eBooks.
For help accessing eBooks start a live chat with a librarian, text us at 613-519-0059 or email us at askus@guelphpl.ca.
Other options for book clubs:
Bring Your Own Book: You may consider not having an assigned book to read at your book club, but instead ask each member to share a book they picked themselves to read. This can be a great option if you’re looking for more flexibility right now and as an added bonus, the group all leaves with a great list of new recommendations!
Themed Book Clubs: A variation on the “bring your own book” model, a themed book club would set a theme (e.g. Canadian, Food, Travel, Magic, etc.) and then ask each member to pick their own book based on the theme. This can help bring some structure to your meetings while still allowing flexibility.
Staying connected with your book club:
There are many ways to continue your book club while maintaining public health directives for social distance and isolation. Some popular options for group gatherings include Facebook groups, Twitter, Zoom, Google Hangouts, group calls on Skype, Microsoft Teams, House Party, Slack, and Discord.
Book clubs offer us the opportunity to explore new books, new ideas, self-expression, and a much needed break from our everyday lives. However you choose to stay connected, the community and friendships formed in book clubs are important. Check in with each other and stay safe!
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