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In the early 1800's various groups of women begin meeting regularly to discuss poetry, nonfiction and publications of the day.
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The first American lyceum is founded (organizes lectures, debates, guest speakers)
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The first known book store sponsored club begins in Margaret Fuller's Boston shop.
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Sarah Atwater Denman starts a women's study group in Quincy, Ill., known as Friends in Council -the oldest continuous literary club in America.
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Male reading groups become popular– e.g. The Cadmus Club, Grolier Club in New York, the Club of Odd Volumes in Boston and the Rowfant Club in Cleveland.
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Womens literary societies are thriving.
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The Book-of-the-month club starts up.
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The Book-of-the-month club shipped it's 100 millionth book!
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The Young Readers of America, the BOMC's first club specifically designed for children was established and became an immediate success.
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Helen Hooven Santmyer's novel ,"And Ladies of the Club", becomes a national best seller after being chosen as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. Centering on members of a long-standing book club, Santmyer's novel inspired the formation of book clubs across the nation.
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Oprah Winfrey launches her televised book club sparking overwhelming interest in book clubs across the nation. The interest in book clubs spurred by Oprah continues today.
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The One Book, One City approach begins in Seattle and is replicated across the continent over the next decade.
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By the late 1990's on-line book clubs emerge as an alternative to face-to-face clubs.
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By the late 2000's, clubs hosted by social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook become popular. On-line clubs evolve from blogs to international platforms like LibraryThing and GoodReads.
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Information for this timeline was accessed during the month of February from the following sites:
The Book Club. (2009). Retrieved from: http://.twitter.com/thebookclubBookclubsonline
The History of Book Clubs ,[Web log post]. Retrieved from: http://www.bookclubs-online.com/guides/history/
Cole, J. (2006, January). One book project grows in popularity, [web log post]. Retrieved from: http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0601/cfb.html
Image by: Mar.tin. (2008, Oct.4). www.flickr.com/photos/
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