By Helen Eyles (Technical Librarian, FFG Library, Garden Island NSW)
ALLA(NSW) members and guests met on 22 January 2014 to discuss Sheryl Sandburg’s “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead”.
The timing was perfect, as members were given ample notice to source and read the book over the Holiday break. The Co-op Bookshop kindly offered copies to members at a special discount.
Additional pre- and post-reading was very cleverly provided by Alex Cato (ALLA(NSW) Publications and Website Coordinator), in the form of a Pinterest board.
This was the second Book Club meeting. The first meeting, in October, discussed Mark Haddon’s “Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime”. This is a very unusual novel written from the perspective of someone with profound social and emotional challenges. It elicited strong responses from the dozen or so Book Club attendees, resulting in a very lively discussion.
The “Lean In” meeting began with round table introductions. Attendees were a mix of academic, government, NGO and court librarians and guests; working and retired; with and without children.
The discussion was ably moderated by Philip Mullen (ALLA(NSW) CPD Coordinator). Attendees were very generous in sharing their own personal experiences of the various topics covered in the book. It was interesting to hear which topics were the most relevant to the Australian law library context, and to members personally. Unfortunately, time got away and we didn’t get around discussing my own issue: “Cinderella Ate My Daughter” …
I had no previous experience of book clubs, and I found the first two meetings to be completely delightful and very informative. I highly recommend the ALLA(NSW) Co-op Bookshop Book Club as a chance for colleagues to become better acquainted with each other, and to share and discuss issues in an informal, relaxed setting.
The next Book Club will discuss a novel (t.b.c.). Watch the Blog and ALLA(NSW) email list for details. Many thanks to Co-op Bookshop for their support.
Published: 29 January 2014
