On Tuesday evening, March 23, Black Hills Audubon held its first gathering of a book group via zoom. We had a great turn out and a lively presentation* by author Tim Ransom on his new book, For the Good of the Order. It was a great boon to begin with an author talk but now we need to discuss how we might go forward on organizing a group for further conversations about books.
Some issues to determine are:
How will books be chosen? Should books be drawn from the Armchair Birding reviews in Echo or by some other method? Books could be nominated by members and then voted on in a process many clubs employ based on thumbnail reviews, availability—library copies or purchase, or other criteria. How “birdy” do members prefer, or are any nature-writing topics of interest? Non fiction and/or fiction? There are so many books!
Who will lead discussions? Some groups have rotating leaders—sometimes whomever nominated the chosen book, while others have a designated moderator.
Someone needs to convene the group, at a minimum.
How often would the group enjoy meeting? All gatherings will still need to be on zoom for the duration of the pandemic, but the platform also allows members who prefer not to drive to be able to participate. After the community is ready to reopen from our time of seclusion, another discussion can take place about how we want to proceed. There can be more than one group: one in-person, one continuing on zoom, for instance. Should the numbers allow, different interests and needs can find expression in smaller groups. Or have one big happy group. This is for members to consider and decide.
I am willing to gather your ideas and responses to these various issues and report back the sense of the group as it forms. There may be other considerations not mentioned here. Please be inventive and generous in replying so we can meet as many needs and wishes as possible. This new group will be all about whomever shows up. I look forward to hearing from you all.
Anne Kilgannon can be reached at anneandgary@nullgmail.com
*It was the intent of the organizers of the March 23 meeting to record the conversation with Tim Ransom and post it here, but in the mechanics of setting up the conversation that function was missed. We apologize for the omission. Tim is happy, however, to chat with any readers who want to reach him. His email is here:
