In February 2010, The Frontier Project created and brought to life the Frontier Sessions. The idea was to gather diverse thinkers in a given city and ask them to tackle a social issue. The inaugural Session was launched in Frontier’s hometown of Richmond, Virginia and held at the UR Downtown Center. The topic centered on the revitalization of the City of Richmond.
There are already many great initiatives in the city to do just that. The specific goal at the Session was to develop recommendations that would bring more people downtown for recreation, shopping, dining and thus strengthen our city core. The group highlighted 11 small “calls to action” that they hope will generate engagement, get people talking and add to Richmond’s robust legacy. Of course, we all encourage individuals, families, business and government leaders everywhere to join the conversation and continue to work towards making Richmond an incredible place to live.
What it is
One call to action stood out as easy to implement on a citywide scale and also produced a decent amount of buzz.
We all agreed that one of Richmond’s most striking deficiencies is it lacks a common gathering place. Fortunately, gathering places are not always physical. Sometimes it’s enough to know that others in the city are engaged in the same thinking as us. So, we debated the impact of starting a citywide book of the month club. The chosen book would be used as the basis for meetings and events around the city. As a group, we took on the responsibility of giving this idea life; we also call on other groups around the city to embrace the idea. Currently, Chop Suey is our main collaborator. We would like to see other bookstores and community-based organizations around the city engage in this effort as well, to help promote read-alongs, discussion groups, and other activities or events that fit with each book of the month.
So, we introduce to you River City Reads… Your very own book club. Where all are welcome to join in and engage.
How it works
River City Reads is similar to traditional book clubs in that there is a designated book to read and review with others (if you choose), a list of topics to discuss, and a sense of community and belonging. To reach a large spectrum of the greater Richmond community, we have built in various methods to partake in the club. Check out the following list of ways to get involved. Heck, participating could even be as simple as walking up to someone you see reading the book in the park and striking up a conversation.
Online Forum: Allows you to engage with others about the book, without having to actually, physically attend a book club meeting. Gives people with busy schedules a way to participate on their own time and in their own space.
Mini Book Clubs: There are two ways that you can participate with local book clubs. (1) You can form a book club by calling on your circle of friends to come over to hang out in your living room and review the book. (2) If you want to meet with a larger group in a more social setting, contact your local bookstore, coffee shop, wine bar, etc. This is a great way for you to start building a sense of community and help strangers become friends in a comfortable environment. If you do decide that you want to take the lead and participate in a local book club, we can provide you with a small list of topics about the book to get the ball rolling. Feel free to edit the list based on the participants or the tone you want to set.
Local Events: Throughout the year various bookstores, galleries and restaurants will host events centered on RCR that you can participate in and attend. Check out our calendar of events to see what’s coming up in your community. If you are interested in hosting a community event please feel free to post to our community calendar of events.
