The run sheet for one month of a book club

Six weeks out: settle the title and the copies

• Close the nomination window on a stated dateAnnounce the closing date when you open nominations, not after. Good looks like four to six titles on the ballot, at least two of them nominated by members who rarely speak up at the meeting.
• Check availability before the ballot, not afterSearch your library catalog for each nominated title and note kit availability, hold queue length and whether a large print or audio edition exists. Drop nothing, but put the supply note next to each title on the ballot.
• Run the vote with a stated tiebreak ruleRanked choice or simple plurality both work as long as the runoff rule is written down before votes come in. Good looks like a decision nobody can argue was invented afterward.
• Reserve the kit the same day the vote closesKit calendars fill months ahead in most systems. Book the loan period so the kit lands at least four weeks before the meeting, and record the return date, since kits are usually due back on a fixed day.
• Post the title, the date and the page count togetherMembers decide whether they can finish a book from the page count, not the title. Publishing all three at once cuts the number of people who arrive at the meeting having read only part of the book.
• Open holds and interlibrary loan for the shortfallCount the readers your kit does not cover and get those requests filed the same week. Good looks like every member having a named route to a copy before the calendar month turns.

Three weeks out: room, date and headcount

• Confirm the room and write down its rulesReconfirm the branch room or the host address, and note the food policy, the parking situation and the hour the building locks. Good looks like nobody discovering a no food rule while carrying a casserole.
• Send the RSVP request with a reply deadlineAsk for a yes or no by a specific day, and say what the count is for, whether that is chairs, food or the larger room. Vague invitations produce vague numbers and a host buying for fourteen when nine come.
• Name the host and confirm the rotationSay publicly who is hosting this month and who has the next two. Good looks like nobody hosting twice in a row and nobody quietly hosting six times a year while others never do.
• Chase the members whose copy has not arrivedCheck the shortfall list from stage one and follow up individually. A member who cannot get the book will usually just go quiet rather than tell you, so ask directly.
• Decide whether food is potluck or coveredSettle it once for the whole year rather than every month. Good looks like a written line in the group notes, so a new member knows what to bring without having to ask anybody.

Meeting week: the questions and the room

• Write eight to ten questions in a deliberate orderOpen with something everyone can answer regardless of how far they read, put the two hardest questions in the middle, and end on a question about whether the book earned its ending.
• Note which questions to cut if time runs shortMark three questions as optional. Good looks like a discussion that ends on a real question rather than one that stops because somebody had to relieve a babysitter.
• Send the reminder with the address and the start timeTwo days out, with the title, the address, the start time and one line of what to bring. Include the parking or the branch entrance detail if the location is new to anyone.
• Plan the first ten minutes as arrival, not discussionPeople arrive across a twenty minute spread. Start the book conversation at a stated time so late arrivals do not each restart the evening from the beginning.
• Prepare one line to manage the dominant talkerSomething neutral and rehearsed such as asking who has not weighed in yet. Good looks like at least two thirds of the room speaking without being called on individually.

The week after: close the loop

• Record attendance and the date the same nightTwo numbers and a date. Six months of this tells you your real attendance share, which is what every other planning decision in the club depends on.
• File the questions with the titleKeep the guide you wrote attached to the book, not in a sent message. Another group in your system may read the same title next year, and a substitute facilitator will thank you.
• Return the kit and confirm it was checked inKits get held against a card if a copy is missing. Count them before returning and get confirmation, especially if the kit came from another branch in the system.
• Open nominations for the next month immediatelyThe evening after a good discussion is when members are most willing to suggest something. Open the window that week and you will get nominations from people who never nominate.
• Note anyone who missed two meetings in a rowOne short personal message, not a group announcement. Good looks like knowing whether the person is busy or drifting, because the second one is recoverable and the first is nothing to worry about.