Start A Club
“It’s such a cool and innovative idea. As the need and demand presents itself, we add more clubs.”
Kim Nau, former NCBC Program Coordinator from Literacy Nassau, in Freeport, New York.Inquire To Start A Club
This is the first step towards becoming a NCBC Affiliate. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find out more and fill out an inquiry form!
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is the first step to start a book club?
Complete and submit the inquiry form found below. Once it is received, we will reach out to schedule a brief telephone call. We believe that personal contact is better than electronic communication for addressing your questions and discussing your plans. Afterwards, you will be sent a copy of our Standards of Practice and Licensing Agreement to review. We require a signed Licensing Agreement before you can participate in the required training.
Who can start a club and what are clubs called?
We use an “Affiliate” model to offer Next Chapter Book Club to communities all over North America and in other parts of the world. A NCBC Affiliate is generally a library, social service agency, or a parents group that has signed our Licensing Agreement, agreed to follow our Standards of Practice, and has designated a NCBC Program Coordinator to participate in our required training. In some cases, the NCBC Affiliate is a partnership between two or more organizations. We particularly encourage this approach because responsibilities are shared and long-term sustainability is more likely to occur.
How soon after training do we need to launch a club? Do we have to start more than one?
The purpose of training is to equip you with information and inspiration to get at least one club off the ground within 90 days, but we can move at whatever pace works for your club. Many of our new NCBC Affiliates launch a club within a month of training. Affiliates are not required to start multiple clubs, but many eventually do because there is often more than eight people (the maximum number of members a club can have) who want to join.
What do we need to know about the required training?
Organizations and individuals who want to start a Next Chapter Book Club program in their community have two options for meeting the training requirement. A live training session can be arranged (contact us for details and pricing) or a video presentation can be viewed online.
Online delivery of our training content is really a necessity now. A growing number of organizations from distant states and international locations want to join the NCBC Affiliate network, but the round-trip travel to or from Ohio is not always practical for a half-day training program.
The online video is divided into three modules which can be watched consecutively, or in multiple sessions. The content is primarily intended for the person designated as the NCBC Program Coordinator, but can also be viewed by others within the Affiliate organization. A shorter training video for volunteer club meeting Facilitators is provided at no additional cost.
What are the main things we need to consider before deciding to become a NCBC Affiliate?
A successful, sustainable Next Chapter Book Club requires these things:
- A public place to meet on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis (i.e. library, coffee shop, bookstore)
- Club members (a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 per club)
- Club meeting Facilitators (two volunteers per club who are willing to commit one hour per week)
- Books (generally four sets per year, per club)
- Training in club meeting facilitation strategies for engaging readers of all levels with intellectual and developmental disabilities
- A Program Coordinator who ensures that each club has a place to meet, members to attend, trained volunteers to facilitate, and books to read. This role requires approximately one hour per week (once the club is up and running) and can be filled by a volunteer or a paid staff person from the Affiliate organization.