Book Clubs and Socratic Seminars: Hoffert, Tredway, Metzger and Dalton - In That Order

I decided to read the articles in order this week, something I rarely do but realized I probably should.  It was a valuable strategy for this week's topic: Book Clubs and Socratic Seminars. 

So, I started with Hoffert's "The Book Club Exploded."  Funny, because I just joined a book club about a year ago.  It was an informal way for me to make friends with some women after I moved back into Ann Arbor.  Our reason for gathering was that all of our significant others played rugby and we always found ourselves at the same gatherings but wanted a way to get to know one another better.  This is just a side note, but it was how I connected this weeks' topic to my own prior knowledge.  The idea of book clubs in libraries (oddly enough) hadn't really occurred to me, so Hoffert's piece about the diversity of Book Clubs was really fascinating to me.

I had also never considered a book club where not everyone actually read the same book but instead read books or pieces around a theme, genre or subject.  Her discussion of how this is good for libraries (where the library doesn't have to purchase several copies of the same book) make just TONS of sense.  Not only financially, but also allowing the book club members to explore topics and have truly indepth, active discussions where they would learn more by connecting themes across several pieces of writing. 
The different ways that book clubs can engage - over different types of texts, within different demographics, over meals, with the author - also was a great way to think about book clubs.  However, I thought the most genius idea - especially for public libraries - was to connect book clubs with library or citywide events.  This could be a great way for libraries to "stay relevent" and connect with their communities.  They can bring in new audiences and help create a more active community in this way.

Second, I read the Tredway article on a new term to me: Socratic Seminars.  The idea of such a way to engage students by having a "structured discourse about ideas and moral dilemmas" shows that the Socratic Seminar is far more than a discussion about the plot of a book.  The questions in a Socratic Seminar actually make students think - evaluating options and making decisions - based on what they read.  One thing I really took from this was that the instructor is a facilitator, one who lets students ask their own questions and guides them along the way.

I liked how Tredway discussed the students interacting in "intellectual discourse" by observing their classmates contributions and learning to paraphrase (something that definitely will come in handy as they continue their studies).  Further the teacher's role to guide students toward a deeper understanding and respecting other's points of view are other skills that are applicable in the real world (further education or in work). 
That all of this actually leads to high-end thinking seems most important.

The third piece I read really tied the idea of book clubs and Socratic Seminars together.  Metzger's idea to modify the Socratic Seminar into a student-led empowerment initiave was the culmination of what a good book club (led by the readers) and a formal Socratic Seminar would do.  As a teacher, she couldn't actually see what students were comprehending - even in a Socratic Seminar she saw too much ritualistic question and answer - so she allowed students to engage with and develop their own learning strategies.  She allowed students to facilitate one another and stepped out of the process enough so that students were really engaging with one another (high-level for freshman!) and let them talk out issues without the precsense of the formal adult.

Metzger's piece was inspiring because as librarians, we can do this.  We can easily slip out of the role of a formal instructor and step into a role that facilitates learning through informal deep processes.  We can allow readers a place to engage and we can lead at the beginning, but then really step back and allow the book club, socratic seminar, whatever you want to call it, to happen.  It shows that formal rules can be broken in a good way and that reader conversation can truly develop with a bit of structure and a lot of intention.

The Dalton piece - are we supposed to comment on this? - was pretty interesting - I have a feeling we're using it to model Socratic Seminar in class.  So, I won't comment too much except that I have seen this situation directly at the UM Library.  My previous job was assisting the Director of a few libraries at UM and several of the meetings for which I took notes involved discussion of prices of serials going through the roof, sustainability and Google digitization.   It will be interesting to hear my peers thoughts on this article, as well as open access and the DLPA in class...