Overview:

This book club would feature cookbooks offered at the library and offer a book club experience for adult patrons excited about cooking, trying new recipes, and food. The club would meet to discuss a specific cookbook each month on a weeknight for an hour and a half to two hours. Participants would make simple recipes from the book together, share the food they make together and other refreshments, talk about the cookbook, and share ideas about other cookbooks and recipes. Once a year the program could feature an author night where a cookbook author could come, make a couple of recipes with the patrons, and answer questions. This club would work best in a library where a kitchen is available, so I am working this program plan under the assumption that one is available. Other libraries without a kitchen access would need to adapt their needs accordingly.

The cookbook club would meet after the library’s coffee shop and café hours to use the kitchen facilities and the adjacent dining tables for seating after making the recipe together. The club would need some standard kitchen supplies: aprons, towels, knives, cutting boards, serving and cooking utensils, mixing bowls, pots and pans, plates, cups, and napkins for serving. The library staff could approach local restaurant supply stores for donations. In addition, each month, the library staff members in charge of the club would reach out to a local grocery store for ingredient donations (HEB in Texas donates food to events like this often).

A typical club meeting would start with an introduction to the recipe in the kitchen area. Then, depending on the recipe, the patrons could all make a version of the same thing. They could participate in a class setting where the patrons follow a guide who walks them through the steps. Another option would be to watch a chef or cook demonstrate the recipe with patrons observing and asking questions. This section of the meeting would take about thirty minutes.

Then, after making the food, the patrons would serve and share the recipe together, incorporating other snacks and refreshments as needed, and everyone would talk and share the food together in the dining area for 15-20 minutes. Finally, the book club would end with a discussion of the cookbook features, recipes patrons would like to try, discussion of options they might like to try at home, etc.

For a marketing strategy, the programming director could feature the cooking book blub and recipe night in a monthly newsletter with the cookbook of the month, what recipe will be made, and expectations. A cookbook club like this would need to consider dietary needs and allergies and food costs, so the program director would need to run the club with an RSVP expectation where patrons could list any concerns and get expected numbers for planning. Additionally, the library could share the recipe ingredients in a social media post in anticipation of the event and then offer pictures of the event afterwards for a promotion for the next month’s event. For the author night, the library could rely on the author’s social media for promotion in addition to the library’s social media channels. The programming director could also have a cookbook display in the adult materials area, featuring all the planned cookbooks. The library café could also have a flyer or poster with details of the monthly event.  

To evaluate the program, the participants could fill out a reflection sheet at the end of the night or participate in a quick feedback survey using a QR code that participants could link to their phones before leaving. The success would also be dependent upon participation, so a successful program would have consistent or growing participation. And with the RSVP requirement, there would be a waitlist to show popularity in the event.