When I took over running of the club, I didn't have nearly so much on my plate at that time. Back then, I was only struggling with one small project - but that was then.
I'm now inundated with projects, and they are taking a lot of my time.
I've had a word with Vicki, and expressed my wishes to stand down from the club. I can run the blog - it's one of a number I run, so no big shakes there - but I've got a longer-term goal to pursue, and I can't pursue that goal and do club business at the same time.
I will leave the club to the rest of you. It will stand or fall, depending on how much effort you put into it. Work well, work as a team, work with the library, and remember that it's not for the cause of having a pint and a laugh like Tebs - the club was set up by the library for the serious purpose of fostering literacy in Chester through appreciation of the medium of science fiction and fantasy.
Don't be in a hurry to choose your next leader either. If you want the club to stand, you'll have to share responsibility for it equally. Which means everybody pitches in, and everyone has something to do, as well as something to contribute.
Just remember one thing.
I've been giving you topics to think of, not individual books. It is so much simpler to go and look up, say, time travel and come up with a book on the subject than it is to just pick one book, such as The Time Machine by H G Wells, and focus solely on that.
If there is one thing I have learned in all the years I have been reading, it is this.
It is far more fun to read a book because you want to, than because you have to.
You all now have a job to do - running your own club. So do it.
I don’t see the dichotomy between discussing a chosen book and a theme as a fundamental reason for going to one group OR the other. I enjoying discussing themes and it is often useful for a member to talk about a theme-related book I’d not read, so I can either ensure I read it or not. On the other hand I enjoy being ‘made’ to read a book I wouldn’t normally read. It widens my horizons and I’ve often been pleasantly surprised and enriched. Also when we all have a chosen book it means we can relate to it as a group yet bringing our own interpretations to it. Most book groups operate on set books and it works well. If the two groups merge I’d hope the two approaches could merge. Some months we’d discuss a set book and on others we have a theme or have an invited author such as Ramsay. BTW the chief librarian, Susannah Hill, is under the impression we have a December meeting with Ramsey. I’m assuming that isn’t official. Asking because the calendar has November 3rd AI, Dec 1st End of the World.
ReplyDeleteI can fully understand the pressure of doing too much. I honestly don’t know how I ever had the time to be a full time teacher. My wife keeps asking me to take things easier. If I took on running the library group she’d kill me. I’ll support anyone taking on the rôle.