Our Origin Story
It all started with a social media post.
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I had seen a few along the lines of "hey, any readers in (insert city) interested in joining a book club? " but none of them were for Richmond, Virginia. On a whim, I posted this: ​​
The next day, I woke up to a ton of replies and messages in my inbox. With absolutely no clue how to organize a book club, I hit the ground running three days later with this post:
A group chat was started, from which came the idea to add events and groups for writers.
After less than two months, the size of the group and number of events and book clubs had blown up beyond what a group chat and discord alone could manage, and thus, our IG page was created. Next, we transitioned to the bookclubs app for virtual meetings and RSVPs for in-person clubs.
In a way that surpasses my understanding, RVA R+W has quickly grown into such a genuine and authentic community over the course of the past year. I truly believe there is something for all readers here, and if there isn't something for you, let us know and we will work to make it happen.
Our book club has multiple titles for discussion every month that are voted on by members, our writers group meets upwards of three times a week, and we have had so many lovely events and socials in between!
The Current Chapter
The extent to which this group has grown and evolved and yet remained the same continues to astonish me in the best way possible. It is my hope, as it was in creating our IG page, that a platform such as this one will make the community more accessible to all.
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Our writers group now has three standing meet ups every week, and I wasn't sure how to keep posting about those so that new people could see them or reference them easily.
A website calendar could help with that!
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We use the bookclubs app for our virtual meet ups and to share the addresses of residents hosting in-person clubs as a privacy protection measure. It's easy to use, but learning how to navigate the system for the first time might be a challenge to some.
A website FAQ could help with that!
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I often get requests for a monthly newsletter with our events and updates and calendar.
A website newsletter sign up could help with that!
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You get the point.
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Our goal is to become more and more readily available to Richmond, VA and its surrounding communities (basically anyone willing to commute however far they feel is worth the drive to hangout with us) by centralizing information and reducing the need to scroll through IG posts and stories if that isn't your thing.