Blog Post #4- Peer Reviewed Article Summary

Citation: Sedo, D. R. (2002). Predictions of Life After Oprah: A Glimpse at the Power of Book Club Readers. Publishing Research Quarterly, 18(3), 11. https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1007/s12109-002-0009-8

DeNel Rehberg Sedo, author of the article under review is a professor and lecturer at Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia. Additionally, she is the Director of the Atlantic Communications Research Lab and a collaborator with the Beyond the Book Project, a project which examines the role of reading in everyday lives. On her blog, Sedo describes her research as “sociology of literature” (2007). Her PhD research focused on book clubs.

 In this study, Sedo (2002)  utilizes a quantitative pretest of book club members as well as establishing herself as an immersive participant in a sampling of book clubs for several months. During her time as a participant she conducted  group and individual interviews and provided a questionnaire to each group member.  Recording data by way of field observation notes, Sedo finally coded and analysed the data collected. Using a methodology called a “snowball technique”, Sedo encouraged participants to pass the survey on to others in order to increase the sampling size. Surveys were also posted on message boards and email lists to broaden the field and gain access to a diverse range of demographics (13).

The goal of this study was to prove Sedo’s argument that the gathering of readers in groups for the purpose of literary discussion is a direct result of the desire to connect with others.  This argument fits in neatly with my description of reading groups as an information community. Sedo refines her argument by stating that reading groups enable readers to, “ satisfy their need to increase their knowledge, nurture their love of books, and share bonds of community,” (11).

During the course of the study Sedo found that book club members are predominantly women. Using a psychoanalytic approach, Sedo argues that this may be due to the tendency for women to “form relationships that are solidified through discussion and sharing (14). Observations showed a disparity between clubs held virtually and clubs held face-to face (f2f) with the former containing a membership slightly less educated than the latter. Most group members were compelled to read for pleasure-seeking purposes but increasing knowledge was also listed as a reason for membership. Club structures were varied and often dependent on the demographic of the attendees with one specific similarity in all groups; the offering of food.  Summarily, while all groups have their own specific methods for operation, they all convene for a similar purpose; to interpret literature in a way that is enhanced by each member’s bringing her ideas to the circle (19). Sedo’s conclusion states that the social bonds that occur during book club meetings are an “unexpected benefit” to an otherwise cerebral meeting of discourse. While Sedo began this study intending to prove that social connections were the impetus of book clubs, she found that first and foremost, women join books clubs out of a desire to read more books and expand their knowledge (21).

Throughout my own research I have found that both ideologies have merit. Alvarez-Alvarez’ (2019) study on book clubs and dialogic literary gatherings bolsters Sedo’s findings. She states that readers join clubs out of a desire to enjoy reading as a leisure pursuit as well as providing an opportunity to broaden their knowledge through intellectual discussion and debate (78).  In essence, readers who join clubs form a community in which they can feel a sense of belonging and engage in interactions which increase their knowledge or result in critical thinking about the selected book. These two schools of thought have increased my interest in exploring the casual leisure versus serious leisure theories introduced by Stebbins (1997). Reading is generally categorized as a casual leisure pursuit being an activity that is “immediately, intrinsically rewarding, relatively short-lived pleasurable activity requiring little or no special training to enjoy it” (18). Readers who read with the purpose of joining discussion likely seek information to bring discussion back to the group, this would elevate the casual-leisure nature of reading to a serious- leisure pursuit.  No longer is the goal to simply enjoy the moments spent reading the book.  The focus has shifted to include at least some form of analysis, at the very least enough to provide the group with lively debate. Leisure becomes serious when there is a pursuit of knowledge beyond what one already knows, resulting in information-seeking behavior. Stebbins (2009) includes activity participation among the activities which fall under the umbrella of serious leisure (623). The activity component of book clubs (gathering as a group for discussion) elevates book club participation from casual to serious leisure. This supports the argument that Stebbins makes as well as the findings in Sedo’s study which concluded that many participants do so in order to increase their knowledge

The diverse nature of book clubs create a broad umbrella of information communities all convening for a similar purpose.  The studies conducted by Stebbins and Sedo provide much of the background for my research on this community. While both studies contain similar findings, there are also some contradictions between the two which I am eager to explore and contrast with other resources I have encountered in this class.

References

Álvarez- Álvarez, C. (2019). A Qualitative Study on Book Clubs and Dialogic Literary Gatherings in Spain and Brazil. Public Library Quarterly, 38(1), 72–84. https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1080/01616846.2018.1530032

 Sedo, D. R. (2002). Predictions of Life After Oprah: A Glimpse at the Power of Book Club Readers. Publishing Research Quarterly, 18(3), 11. https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1007/s12109-002-0009-8

Sedo, D. N. R. DeNel Rehberg Sedo. https://denelrehbergsedo.info/. 

Stebbins, R.A. (2009). Leisure and Its Relationship to Library and: Information Science: Bridging the Gap. Library Trends 57(4), 618-631. doi:10.1353/lib.0.0064.

Stebbins, R.A., (1997) Casual leisure: a conceptual statement, Leisure Studies, 16:1, 17-25, DOI: 10.1080/026143697375485