First meeting of 2010. Upper class members and officers displaying former 'reads' to freshman. We had more than 20 new members join on the first meeting!

Editor's note: One thing I especially love about our profession is its share-and-share-alike attitude–if a colleague already has a great lesson plan on civics, grab it, and if your expertise is in creating topical booklists, you've probably already passed them along to your peers. That's why I was so thrilled to see a recent posting on the AASLForum online discussion list about the creation, care, and maintenance of a high school book club. Debra D'Andrea, a school library media specialist at Bloomfield (NJ) High School, got the conversation started, and I suspect we'll be hearing more from her in a formal venue in the future. The following snippets will give you a peak at D'Andrea's philosophy and practicality:

Be inclusive. Invite everyone-students, teachers, lower-level readers, ESL, students, administration, and even security. Reach outside your district. Think beyond the good readers. Food. Yes, it's a bribe, but keep it healthy with carrots and grapes with just a few "treats." See if the PTA will underwrite pizza. Full stomachs = good conversation. Use social media. Use Facebook (private group) or Goodreads to keep the conversation going 24/7. Meeting notices are sent via emails and texts, and activity is posted regularly on our media center website. Connect to community. Charity and connection to the greater world has become an important aspect of our book club. We choose books on these topics, for example, bullying, the childcare systems, and forms of inspirational literature. Be prepared to fundraise. You'll need to purchase 10 to 20 books from the cheapest source possible so that each book club member can have his or her own copy. Have flexible circulation policies. Though these books are put into circulation, they're only available to book club members while that selection is being read. And members are never charged late fines. Once the book is finished, it goes back into the collection and often there are enough books for an entire class. This is definitely a win-win situation.

Our former superintendent played guitar for the entire district at Barnes and Noble to help draw a crowd for our first fundraiser at the store.

Book club as leadership training. Students need leadership opportunities, and what better way than to offer this than through book club. Set up a governing structure with a president, vice-president, treasurer, and activities coordinator to start, then look for members willing to lead group discussions.

Don't forget field trips. Match a book on Turkish culture with a trip to a local restaurant, or venture further afield to visit notable public or academic libraries that may have special collections to provide further inspiration. Open mic/poetry reading. Consider approaching a local bookstore or box store (Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters) about putting on an open mic and poetry reading. You may be able to use these as fund-raising opportunities. Face it, most kids are hams and they're ready to perform at the drop of a hat. Book club title selection can be tricky. Have students offer selections, but don't be afraid of directing them in their choices. It's important that book club titles appeal to both genders, and with a wide range of reading levels, it's important that the titles are accessible to everyone. Alumni are always welcome. Keep book club '"graduates" on email discussion lists and notify them about upcoming events. It's wonderful to see returning members, and their presence reminds the high school crowd that an investment in reading just keeps on giving.