The Learning Network Book Club turns 1 on 6th June, and what a first year it’s been! To celebrate, Kristina Rodier, Katerina Vourlakos, Russell Woods and Helen Palmer (virtually!) sat down to talk about our experiences and what we learnt!
Helen: So, an easy question to kick us off. What was your motivation for joining bookclub?
Kris: I had purchased three books from the Kogan Page stand at Learning Technologies 2024 and posted about them on LinkedIn (original post here). Paula Hughes, former Vice Chair of The Learning Network, mentioned that a book club for members had been suggested previously, but never started. Launching one seemed like a great way to give something back to the network that’s provided me with so many opportunities for connection and learning”.
Helen: Interesting! I joined the board in 2024 and in an early meeting suggested starting a book club and we had planned to kick it off after the summer holidays, so when Paula mentioned that she’d been talking to you, I took up the book baton and we connected! Kat, what about you?
Kat: I joined Helen from the board in helping Kris to launch the book club. I wanted to hold myself accountable, since I had a few L&D books sitting unread on my shelf! Joining the book club motivated me to read these books and I have met some brilliant people! It is a space where people share how they use the learning in practice, as well as growing and reflecting as learning practitioners.”
Russell: I’m an avid reader, but what I enjoy even more is discussing what I’ve learnt with others and hearing other perspectives, so the book club was a win-win!
What has been our highlight, or light bulb moment this year?
Helen: I’ll start. For me it was our very first session; I was just delighted that so many members were interested to join and it was fantastic to meet so many other book lovers and to discover our favourite books and reading habits.
Kat: I loved the ‘Winter Wellbeing Sketchnoting Session’. It was particularly impactful as it was held in December – a time which is stressful and difficult for some people. Rachel Burnham shared some basics of sketchnoting and then Liggy Webb read her Winter Wellbeing book while we all sketchnoted! I found the session very relaxing and took away some tips on wellbeing.
Russell: There have been a few, but one that sticks out was reading Andy Lancaster’s book “Organisational Learning Communities”, which was so relevant to a social and self-driven skill development initiative I was experimenting with. A couple of insights shared by others from the book really added value to my thinking for the initiative.
Kris: Hosting industry-leading authors at our sessions has been the greatest highlight for me. We’ve hosted five to date (huge thanks to Michelle Parry-Slater, Julie Dirksen, Liggy Webb, Andy Lancaster, and Susi Miller). It’s been tremendously fulfilling to hear how individual book club members have benefitted from our guest authors’ insights, and how Q&A sessions have influenced their work.
Have any of us applied learnings from these sessions into our day jobs?
Kat: Yes, definitely! Susi Miller’s ‘Designing Accessible Learning Content’ book has been a particularly useful book to reference during my current work. I am working on some freelancing e-learning projects and in all my work I have a strong emphasis on designing accessible learning from the start, rather than evaluating it at the end. Susi’s book is super useful for me to reference when I’m working with clients.
Russell: There have been many learnings. One example was when Gaelle Watson shared ways to prime colleagues, to enhance the chances of them actively engaging with a community. This Iearning was applied the following day! I want to end by saying that Helen, Kris and Kat are awesome hosts, so I thoroughly recommend members to join the book club!
Helen: Thanks Russell for the kind words and thanks Kat, Kris and Russell for this conversation about our first year together.
A special shout out to everyone who has attended a book club session, shared thoughts, and contributed in our Slack channel. Book club made it to its first birthday because of your participation and input! If you’ve not attended yet, we’d love to welcome you! No reading required – all you need is a love for L&D! Hope to see you soon and in the meantime, Happy Reading!
Join our Book Club Distribution List!
We now have our very own distribution list set up in the Learning Network systems! This will make our communication tasks easier, and keeps your data safe.
Please sign into the The Learning Network and then click on this link to join the distribution list.
Registering for each book club stays the same, go to the Events Page and then register as normal. We will also continue to use the #book-club channel on Slack.
Reminder about our next Book Club…
The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things right by Atul Gawande
Thursday 5th June 2025
7pm – 8pm (BST)
Book here: https://thelearning-network.org/event/the-learning-network-book-club-june/#
