Book Club¶
The Book Club turns your library into a shared reading space: pick a book you already own, read it together over a set period, discuss it, and keep a lasting record of what the group has read.
Included free, in every edition — including Community
Unlike Kids Mode, the Book Club needs no toggle and no AI module. It's part of the core Community edition, works fully self-hosted, and never requires a paid module. Discussion prompts generated by AI are an optional extra (see below) — everything else works with zero configuration.
Who Can Use It¶
Every adult member of your library — Admin, Editor, or Viewer — can view the club, join a reading cycle, post to the discussion, and rate the book. Only Admins and Editors can start a cycle, move it through its stages, or archive it. Child accounts don't see the Book Club — they have their own space in Kids Mode.
Because membership is scoped to your library, only people who belong to your library can ever see or take part in its Book Club — there's no public or cross-library feed.
Reading Cycles¶
A cycle is one round of shared reading: a book, a title/theme for the round, and an optional reading window.
- From the main navigation, open Book Club
- An Admin or Editor clicks Start a reading cycle
- Search your own catalog for the book (or the record, if you don't own a physical copy yet) and give the cycle a title — e.g. "Summer reads"
- The cycle starts in Reading
A cycle moves through four stages:
| Stage | What it means |
|---|---|
| Reading | The group is reading the book; discussion isn't open yet |
| Discussing | Discussion is open — everyone can post |
| Archived | The cycle is closed and moves into the shared history |
An Admin/Editor clicks Move to discussion once the group is ready to talk about the book, and Archive to close the cycle. Both of these are reversible — clicking them by mistake doesn't lock anything in: Undo takes a cycle back from Discussing to Reading, and Reopen brings an archived cycle back to Discussing.
Discussion¶
Once a cycle is in the Discussing stage, any member can post. Posts can:
- Reply to another post, keeping related comments together
- Be marked Contains spoilers — spoiler posts are hidden behind a click-to-reveal, so no one sees a plot twist by accident while scrolling
You can delete your own posts at any time; an Admin can delete any post in the library.
Discussion is closed outside the Discussing stage — you can't post while the group is still reading, and posting closes again once a cycle is archived (reopen it to keep writing).
Participation¶
Any member can join a cycle to show they're taking part, and later mark themselves as finished. This is entirely optional and has no effect on posting or voting — it's just a lightweight way for the group to see who's reading along.
Rating¶
The book's rating for a cycle reuses your own personal rating for that copy — rate it from the book's own page, the same way you'd rate any book in your catalog. The cycle page shows the group's average and how many members have rated it.
Proposing and Voting on the Next Book¶
Instead of an Admin/Editor always picking the next book, anyone can propose one:
- Open Book Club → Proposals
- Click Propose a book, search your catalog, and optionally add a note on why you're proposing it
- Any member can vote for a proposal (one vote per member per proposal, toggle on/off)
- An Admin/Editor promotes the proposal with the most votes into a new reading cycle — this also clears the proposal list, ready for the next round
Meetings¶
An Admin/Editor can schedule a meeting for a cycle — a date/time plus a free-text note for a physical place or a video-call link. Meetings are listed on the cycle page for everyone to see, and can be deleted by an Admin/Editor if plans change.
AI Discussion Prompts (optional)¶
If this installation has the AI module enabled, the cycle page offers a set of AI-generated conversation-starter questions about the book — a get-or-generate feature, so the questions are written once per cycle and reused on every visit, not regenerated each time. Prompts are written in whatever language you're currently using the interface in.
Without the AI module, this section is shown, not hidden — disabled, with a note that it's a Pro/Education feature so you know it exists without it silently disappearing.
Shared Reading History¶
Every archived cycle stays visible under History on the Book Club page: the book, how many members took part, and the group's average rating. It's the club's own record of everything you've read together.
See also: Book Details for ratings on individual copies · Book Presentation & AI for how the AI module works elsewhere in Jinbocho