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Book Discussion Best Practices

When requesting titles for book clubs please adhere to the best practices and instructions detailed below. 

SWAN libraries in partnership – neighborly practice recommendations

  • Consider the number of copies available and hold queues when selecting titles for book clubs. Last year’s best sellers may not be in demand, and therefore a larger number of copies may be available.
  • New titles and best sellers should not be requested via interlibrary loan, but rather purchased by book club facilitation library.
  • Be aware of timing and availability when making requests to minimize the number of time items are waiting to be picked up by book club members and not circulating.
  • Libraries may extend due dates for book club patrons, but not for book discussion cards or when the title has multiple holds.

Create a Book Discussion card

Libraries should use a book discussion card when placing holds and checkout the items to the book discussion card when the item arrives at your library.  Do not extend the due date on this card. 

To create a Book Discussion card, please follow the steps below.

  1. Type or scan User ID: ex: BOOKDISCSWS
  2. Select BOOK_DISC as the Profile Name
  3. Basic Info Tab
    1. Last Name: Book Discussion Group Name
    2. Library: Your library's agency code ex:SWS
    3. User Profile: BOOK_DISC (One circulation rule can be named for all item types,or items will circulate to BOOK_DISC just like any other user at your library).  Shows a status of checked out in the catalog.
  4. Demographics Tab
    1. Type: BOOKDISC
    2. Library Defined: NO_UNIQUE
  5. Addresses Tab
    1. Email Address: Insert a staff email