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		Jumping on the Book Club Bandwagon: Using a reading group as a tool for professional staff development By Tina Tormey, Residence Director, Ithaca College Sir Richard Steele once said, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” He’s right. Regular reading increases vocabulary, reading speed and reading comprehension and improves one’s writing skills. Historically, women have used reading groups to socialize and educate themselves when learning opportunities weren’t always available to women. Over time, they found that with the skills they learned from participating in book groups, they could be excellent advocates for their community and children. Combined with discussion, reading can help one develop better analytical and oral communication skills. All of these skills are important for almost anyone, but these competencies are especially pertinent to those in student affairs, who on a daily basis interact with a wide variety of professionals and students and need to problem solve at a moment’s notice. The Office of Residential Life at Ithaca College has had a reading group for several years. We’ve experimented with journal articles, magazine features, and books. Our goals are to spend some fun time reading and getting to know each other, expand our knowledge on any topic related to our profession and to have good conversation. It’s been a wonderful way to socialize and learn with colleagues. For those departments with limited resources, a reading group can be a fairly inexpensive and easy way to provide on-going training and development for professionals of all levels, backgrounds and experiences. The more diverse the group, the more variety in perspectives when it comes time to discuss what you’ve read. While it can be great simply to listen to your group discuss how they interpreted what they read and what they thought of the selection, it’s important to have a well-equipped facilitator to lend direction and structure to the conversation. Asking pointed questions can assist the group in applying what they’ve learned from reading to their positions and responsibilities as professionals. The following are tips to make your reading group a fun and learning-intensive one: Consider having a skilled facilitator lead the group. You may be able to find a librarian, English teacher, or writing professor who has experience facilitating groups such as yours, but be sure to discuss the goals of the group with the facilitator in advance. Ask open-ended questions. Don’t ask “did you like the book?” Instead ask “What was your reading experience like,” What issues or questions did this book raise for you,” or “How does this book influence what you do?” Distribute discussion questions in advance. This will allow individuals to focus on pertinent topics or issues during the reading and assist them in planning for discussion. Ask each reading group member to bring their own question to the discussion. This will also help your conversation benefit from diverse perspectives. Consider breaking the book (and discussion) into two parts to make it more digestible. Create an environment for discussion. Try not to hold a discussion group in a meeting space, but in a lounge. Have tea and coffee or host the discussion over lunch. Vary topics and genres. Reading three books on identity development with similar writing styles will get exhausting and lead to reader burn-out. Shaking things up will keep your readers from getting bored and will draw different people into your group. If you do want to keep the topic consistent, vary the style of the reading. For example, our department chose to read books which tackled diversity-related issues. Our selections were “Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria” by Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, “Honky” by Dalton Conley and “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich. Each book dealt with race and/or class issues, but from very different perspectives. Tatum took a psychological approach complete with case studies, “Honky” was a memoir and “Nickel and Dimed” was first person, experiential journalism. Incidentally, “Honky,” which addressed race and class, was a nice bridge between our racial identity and class-focused selections. Theme it up! When you distribute books, make bookmarks with a nice quote, the name of the book and the date of the discussion group. If you are also the person purchasing the books, you can add how much each reader owes you. Pick books that someone in the group recommends. Your readers will know what works and what doesn’t work for the group. You can also ask others in your field what books they would recommend, as they are familiar with the work you do. (I’ve personally found that sociology professors have limitless lists of great reading materials!) Find a good deal. Many bookstores give discounts (of up to 20%) to educators or allow discounts for bulk orders. You may also find reading selections in used bookstores in your community or the local library. When you’ve finished a book, consider donating it to a local school or library. You may also want to keep one as part of a resource library for your department. I presented a session at NEACUHO this year about book clubs and had the opportunity to speak to several book-lovers who were interested in incorporating their love of reading into their jobs. Many expressed a concern regarding time. The time issues ranged from not having enough time to read to not being able to find a time during which everyone could meet and discuss the book selection. While some people read faster than others, those who really want to read will probably find the time to do so. Replace watching the 11 p.m. news with a half an hour of reading–you’ll have the time to read 20 to 30 pages each night. One colleague found time to read the book club selections when she traveled to conferences. Another read during lunch breaks or while waiting for meetings to start. While meeting as group to discuss the reading selection is probably most desirable, there are certainly other options for a group of individuals whose schedules don’t mesh. Plan time to discuss a reading at your annual retreat or during training. Have a round robin book group in which one book gets routed to each colleague throughout the year. Each reader can add his or her own thoughts and observations on Post-It Notes or in the margins of the text and leave the notes in the book for the next reader. Or you can create an office or online bulletin board to discuss and comment on the reading selection. Regardless, a reading group can be a very rewarding experience for the individuals involved and for the people your department serves. Happy reading! About the Author Tina Tormey has been a residence director at Ithaca College for three years. She has too many favorite books to mention, though she’s particularly fond of books in the genres of literary non-fiction and contemporary fiction. You can reach her at ctormey@ithaca.edu. To see a list of book ideas, click here.