Based on discussion at January 8, 2019 education committee meeting:

 

Launch

Tentatively, at the February 23 general meeting, the Education Committee will have a list of 6-8 books and 6-8 bundles of 3-4 articles, each bundle on a specific topic. Committee members will give a brief pitch for each book/article bundle. The books and bundles will be curated to represent different levels of accessibility and a wide range of interests.

Next, the general membership will be invited to converse with each other about books they are most interested in. Hopefully, a consensus will build around 2-3 books and 2-3 bundles. If someone really wants to read a book that a consensus does not build around, participants should take that into consideration when choosing future books to read.

Next, participants will plan out a time to hold a discussion of the selected books/articles. Participants will talk about how long they need to read the book or bundle, and if more than one meeting is necessary. For example, some may wish to have a new book to read every month, while other might want two or three months to read. And very technical books may require one meeting per chapter. Participants may participate in as many or as few discussions as they like.

Reasonable effort will be made to have different article discussions meet on the same day so that this process can be repeated and participants have a voice in choosing the articles most interesting to them. And reasonable effort will be made so that the last (or only) discussion for all books occurs on the same day so this process can be repeated. In other words, participants will have the opportunity to sort themselves into new groups based on interest.

Ongoing

In general, the reading group will maintain a list of approximately 6-8 books and 6-8 bundles of articles, as above. Books and articles will be suggested by reading group members, and curated to have a wide selection of interests and levels of accessibility, and also to reflect the interests of active members.

There will be a standing reading group meeting twice per month (eg, 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month). In this way, technical books which require multiple meetings can meet frequently; more casual discussion groups can meet less frequently (once every 2 or 3 months, for example); and different groups will meet in the same room at the same time in order to facilitate a comradely spirit and exchange of ideas.

As above, reasonable effort will be made to have different article discussions meet on the same day so that this process can be repeated and participants have a voice in choosing the articles most interesting to them. And reasonable effort will be made so that the last (or only) discussion for all books occurs on the same day so this process can be repeated. In other words, participants will have the opportunity to sort themselves into new groups based on interest.