- Find One Person to Invite to OGB@Home
As the Group Leader, think of one person that you want to invite to read the Great Books with. It doesn’t need to be eight people right off the bat. Have a phone call with that one person, and tell them what they’re doing. Don’t pre-reject yourself.
Ask them to help you come up with two more names to invite to your first meeting, don’t get off the call until you come up with that. You shouldn’t judge who it is. If their name comes to mind, there’s a chance they are interested and you send them the invitation and you let them determine if they’re interested or not.
- Send your initial group the invitation letter.
Here is an example invitation letter you can model after. The invitation letter should have a set time, place, and topic for that first meeting. While a mailed letter is preferred, email is also acceptable.
- Host the Kick-off Meeting
It doesn’t need to be elaborate, you need chairs and you need to have a table. You might need some coffee, tea, water, maybe even wine, and be ready to kick that meeting off on time, even if somebody is late. Click here for a full hosting guide.
In the first 30 minutes of that meeting, the Group Leader should describe the project at hand which is studying Great Books together using the Socratic Seminar method to increase reading comprehension and accountability. The accountability aspect is important to discuss so that your group doesn’t fail like so many people who have bought that Great Books in Western World set and started off to read it but didn’t. It’s crucial that we set expectations upfront and early, namely the monthly meetings, reading requirements, and how we should approach these books.
That’s where OGB@Home comes in. Our goal is to provide you with all accountability tools and resources to make your Great Books Home Group a success. You’ll want to provide handouts of the Program Overview and discuss together.
Some of your attendees may be familiar with the Great Books while others will be joining entirely fresh. If you find that your potential book group participants would like more information about the Great Books Movement, here are some resources to direct them to:
The Lost Tools of Learning, Dorthy Sayers
Notes on Dialogue, Stringfellow Barr
At the end of the Kick-Off Meeting, be sure to ask three questions:
- Who is committed to joining this group?
- Can anyone think of any more names so people who might be interested in joining?
- When would you like to meet ongoing? (i.e. 7 PM CST on the third Thursday of the month)
Ensure you have phone numbers and emails for everyone who will be joining. Let all participants know you will be inputting their information to my.onlinegreatbooks.com and that they will receive a link to the online portal once that is complete. They should receive email confirmation and login information.
- Fill out the Form to Add New People to the Group
And these new members to your group. You’ll enter their names, emails, and phone numbers into that form.
- Fill out the Form to Set Meeting Time
That locks you in, and we take it from there.
