From our many years of experience with volunteer programs, we can recommend the following tips that will help ensure the success of your new  Great Books program: 

• Appoint a Great Books coordinator
• Keep discussion groups small (8–12 maximum)
• Hold discussions during school time
• Meet once a week for at least 6 weeks (8–10 weeks is preferable)
• Have the support of the principal and teachers
• Have the support of parents
• Have students purchase their books

Have a Great Books coordinator. Having a successful Great Books volunteer program will mean recruiting students and leaders to participate, scheduling training for leaders, ordering books, organizing discussion groups, assigning leaders to groups, establishing policies for the program, answering questions, and seeing to the week-to-week running of the program. It's helpful if one person can see that all of this gets done, and that person is the Great Books coordinator. With training, the coordinator can act as a substitute leader in the event that one of the volunteers can't make it to discussion.

Have principal and teacher support. Getting the support of the principal and teachers is important to any school-based program. The principal and teachers can be of assistance in assuring student attendance, maintaining student discipline, and avoiding scheduling conflicts. Volunteers can gain teacher support by helping teachers understand that you are not implementing this program because you feel the teachers' performance is lacking in any way. Instead, explain to them that you see this as complementary to what they are doing in the classroom. It may help for teachers to hear that you know the demand placed on their time by state and local mandates is high and that you see this program as a way of easing the demand placed on them. Share Great Books student achievement data with your principal and teachers to win their support.

Keep discussion groups small. Small groups—8–12 participants—ensure that all children will have a chance to speak during discussion. If your discussion time is very short (e.g., a half-hour),you will want to keep group size to about 8–10 students. Volunteers new to managing a group will also appreciate the small group size.

Hold discussions during school time. Programs usually work better if held during school time because students do not have to make special transportation arrangements in order to attend. Many volunteer programs hold discussions during lunchtime. Before-school and after-school options are also popular.

Meet once a week for six weeks. One week is a good interval between discussions. This gives students enough time to read the selections twice and mull over what they have read before coming to discussion. A week is also enough time for busy volunteers to prepare each story for discussion. It takes awhile to get the hang of being a participant or to feel comfortable in the role of leader. That's why we recommend that programs continue for a minimum of 6 consecutive weeks, although 8 to 10 is even better. The longer the program runs, the more time both students and volunteers have to develop their listening and critical-thinking skills.

Have parent support. Getting the support of all parents is important to keeping the program strong. Parents of students in the school will be your best and largest pool of potential volunteer leaders. Even parents who don't volunteer to lead have roles to play in the program. Supportive parents can see to it that students are prepared for, and well behaved during, discussion. They can be instrumental also in raising funds to cover the cost of training and providing books for students who can't afford them. Distribute information about Great Books to all parents.

Have students purchase their books. If students purchase books, they can underline and take notes in them. This helps students develop good note-taking skills that will benefit them in high school and college. Taking notes in the books also encourages careful reading and helps students support their ideas with evidence. If books are not purchased, self-stick notepapers are a good alternative to writing in the books.

For more information about training, materials, or volunteer support, please contact the sales representative for your state.