Tips for Book Discussion

The Let's Talk About It model calls for discussion following the scholar's presentation. Find out why having a discussion facilitator is important, how to encourage small group discussion, where to find discussion facilitators, and get some tips for discussion facilitators.

Why have a discussion facilitator?

Let's Talk About It programs are designed to be interactive, and the discussion time is often the most satisfying part of the program. If you are using small groups for discussion, it is helpful to recruit, in advance, several discussion facilitators. Ideally, facilitators should thoroughly read the book and be comfortable with people. However, they don't have to be an expert on the book or "have all the answers." Rather, it is their job to keep the group on track during discussion and make sure each person has the opportunity to speak. Get your facilitators together before the first program to discuss what their responsibilities are, make sure they understand the program agenda, and give them an opportunity to share information with one another.

Most program scholars are comfortable leading the discussion. However, if the scholar is looked to as having "the right answer," participants may be inhibited from relating their own experiences and interpretations to the readings. No matter how you structure the discussion, make sure you confer with the scholars before the programs so that they know what is expected of them during the discussion.

Be flexible and do what works in your community. One library provides discussion questions to each group without a designated facilitator. The program coordinator then circulates to make sure each group seems to be on track. Try the small groups, but be amenable to staying in one group if your participants are more comfortable with this.

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How to encourage small group discussion

Program participants are sometimes reluctant to break into smaller groups. They may feel like do not want to miss comments made by the scholar or others who are not in their group. It is also more difficult to "hide" (not to actively participate) in a smaller group. Consider starting small group discussion with an ice breaker, such as asking each group to answer a different question posed by the book. Each group then reports their answer to the larger group. Divide the discussion into two parts -- small groups for 30 minutes and large group for 15 minutes. Ask the scholar not to participate in the small group but simply to circulate as an observer.

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Where to find discussion facilitators

If you are using small groups for discussion, you may need to recruit facilitators. To keep the commitment time limited, ask someone to just facilitate at one program. Here are some possible people to consider:

• Consult with /delegate to your planning committee
• Library staff or board members
• Local teachers
• Book store staff
• Interested club or community organization members
• Someone from your partner organization
• Others who have experience working with groups
• Interested participants--ask them when they check out the books

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Growing Older, Growing Wiser

Click on the image for a larger version of the graphic.

On this page:

Theme Essay | Discussion Prompts | Aging Links

Books, Author Information and Discussion Questions:

• Crossing To Safety by Wallace Stegner (1987)
• Having Our Say by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth (1993)
• Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (1997)
• Balsamroot: A Memoir by Mary Clearman Blew (1994)
• House of Splendid Isolation by Edna O'Brien (1994)
• The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
• The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry (1974)

Theme Essay

Our population is at a new stage; more people are living longer. Barely a generation ago, it was not uncommon for a grandparent to pass away in her 60s, but now life expectancy puts that age in the mid-80s. It is perhaps a mixed blessing, for though medical science and diet and technology can provide the resources for a longer life, not all aspects of being older are pleasant. While we live longer, we still face debilitating, incurable diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, and dementia. Indeed, along with Mary Clearman Blew in her novel Balsamroot, we wonder "what happens when the mind starts to wear out?" While modern living has provided many physical comforts, our society is not prepared to care for the elderly as evidenced by the number of homes for the aged, separate facilities where elderly are placed for care and treatment, away from friends, family and community. Age discrimination against senior citizens is a documented fact.

In contrast is the idea that only through living and the experiences that come with it can we become wise. Wisdom is not a certificate or a degree, and it is probably true that any 80 year-old will have more wisdom that a twenty-year-old college graduate. Wisdom borne of age and experience is a resource for our society in general and personal terms. As Bessie Delany says, "there's a saying: Only little children and old folks tell the truth." And for some, life goes on as it always has, never seeming to change in any significant way. "No matter how old you get, you don't feel old," writes Wallace Stegner.

This theme, Growing Older, Growing Wiser, addresses these issues. On the one hand is the fear and the "inconvenience" of growing older; on the other is the revealed wisdom and confidence of age. Each novel in this series speaks to us as individuals who are part of the growing number of aging and elderly in this country, whether we ourselves are elderly or whether we have parents, grandparents or other relatives who are aging. Reading, reflection and discussion will help address issues such as how we might proceed into this new social structure, where and how we live, and how we relate to the rest of our family and society.

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"Growing Older, Growing Wiser" Theme Discussion Prompts

Use the following as discussion prompts for the theme of Growing Older, Growing Wiser.

1. While discussing his novel Crossing To Safety, Wallace Stegner notes that, "The older you get, the more the relation between past and present grows on you, because you have more history to look at... No matter how old you get, you don't feel old. You're still the same guy inside, and so there is a continuity there, within yourself" (Stegner: Conversations on History and Literature by Wallace Stegner and Richard W. Etulain xiii).
2. In the final pages of House of Splendid Isolation, O'Brien writes,
   

   But to be close in body or bayonet is not enough. To go in, within, is the bloodiest journey of all. Inside, you get to know—that the same blood and the same tears drop from the enemy as from the self, though not always in the same proportion. To go right into the heart of the hate and the wrong and to sup from it and to be supped. It does not say that in the books. That is the future knowledge. The knowledge that is to be. (232)

3. On page 149 of The Memory of Old Jack, Berry writes of the reaction to the news of Jack's death.
   

   As he [Mat} told them he felt the change. He felt it come over them all, as quiet and complete as a night of snow. A landmark that they had all depended on had fallen, and a strangeness came between them and the country. Their minds had already begun to change and things would no longer be as they had been.

   Mat felt the change upon himself. Now he was the oldest, and the longest memory was his. Now between him and the grace stood no other man. From here on he would have to find the way for himself.

4. In Having Our Say, Bessie says , "When you get real old, honey, you realize there are certain things that just don't matter anymore. You lay it all on the table. There's a saying: O