Supporting Lifelong Learning
The Crummer Connections: Book Club is an online community that reads books covering professional development, lifelong learning, personal growth, and other business and career related topics. We’ll focus on books with cross disciplines and are easy to read for busy professionals. The books selected for the group will offer a combination of high-level insight and practical ways to improve ourselves, the organizations we work with, and our communities. See below for the calendar of themes and books that will be covered this year.
Why Join?
- Connect: Want to connect with intelligent, driven and interesting people? Joining our book club will introduce you to alumni and students from across industries, generations, and geographies to help you improve your network.
- Reading is GOOD for You: Joining our book club will help you read more and enjoy all the benefits that come with it.
Book Themes
Each book will be chosen based on a business topic/theme. Please see the schedule below.
*subject to change*
| Dates | Theme | Book & Author |
|---|---|---|
| July - September | Leadership | How's the Culture in Your Kingdom? by Dan Cockerell '01MBA |
| September - November | Systemic Racial Justice Issue | So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo |
| February - March | Sustainability | 21st Century Corporate Citizenship: A Practical Guide to Delivering Value to Society and Your Business by Dave Stangis and Katherine Valvoda Smith |
| April - June | Finance | |
| July - September | Operations and Management | |
| October - December | Marketing - Gig Economy |
Become a Member To Join
Virtual Book Club Events
Book Club Events will give members an opportunity to discuss the current book live. You must be a member of the Book Club to join the events, and details will be posted in the Crummer Connections: Book Club group page on Goodreads.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
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How Does it Work?
We’re using Goodreads.com to host the virtual book club for the Crummer Alumni Association. The book club will connect through a private forum where all participants can discuss the current book and network with each other. We will also host private book club events. Joining is completely free; you just have to get a copy of the book to enjoy. The book club will read one book every two months so you will have plenty of time for each book.
If you don’t have a Goodreads account you can make one for free at goodreads.com Just signup and follow the easy instructions to make your profile. To find our book club, from the “Community” tab in the top navigation menu, select “Groups” and then search for Crummer Connections: Book Club.
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How often will books be read, what is the time commitment and what are the expectations?
There is no formal time commitment for the book club – you can spend as much or as little time participating as you’d like. The book club will read one book every two months. Throughout the two months members are welcome to post and comment to the online discussion board. At the end of the two months, we will host an online event to discuss the book.
The books selected will take an average of six hours to read cover to cover. If you have between 15 and 30 minutes a week to read you should be fine. If you are particularly busy with work, family, or other obligations and can’t read one of the books, it’s OK. If you can only read part of a book and contribute a little to the online discussion or the book club event, that’s OK too. The goal of this program is to connect Crummer community together through important topics, so we welcome book club members to participate as much as makes sense for you.
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Will there be any in-person meetings of the book club?
All activities and events for the book club will be online so people can participate anywhere in the world.
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Is there any cost to participate?
No. Participation is completely free! You just need a copy of the book. Be sure to check your local library to see if they have the book (or book on tape) to check out for free.
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How do book club discussions work?
Once you’re a member of the Crummer Connections: Book Club group, you’ll be able to participate by commenting, posing questions to your fellow readers, and reacting to others’ comments. The book club moderator will help lead regular discussions, but all are welcome to chime in with their own questions and take-aways from the book.
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What if my question isn't answered?
Feel free to send an email to crummeralumni@rollins.edu and we’ll be happy to help.