Classics for Beginners discussion

It is with sadness that I need to inform the group that many of the moderators have decided to retire from moderating for various reasons. I am unable to handle all the work the moderators do all by myself since I am currently teaching literature courses.

So these are our options: 1) Do 2 or 3 of you want to become moderators? We currently have 4 moderators, so each moderator handles 3 months a year. 2) Do we want to shut down the group? We also need more participation in the group reads, since it is discouraging for everyone when there are only a few comments.

Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

PS. If you are interested in learning more about being a moderator, please PM me.

Hi all,

To confirm, I am one of the mods who will be stepping down in 2019.

When I joined the group in 2012 I was a student with lots of free time and an avid reader of classical literature.This group encouraged that and helped me to find many great books I would otherwise have missed out on. And I thank the group (and all it's members) for that.

In 2018, however, I work a full time job and my tastes have changed. My reading focus is now on women authors, authors of colour, and non-fiction. So far this year I have only read three classics, and none of them picks from this group. I think the group deserves someone who is going to be more than an administrator for the monthly nominations and polls, but who is engaged with the type of books we read here and takes part in the discussions that go on.

I wish the group the best going forward and hope that the group can continue into 2019 and beyond but, for family and workload reasons, I am not able to commit to handling three months a year, even in a purely administrative capacity.

Thanks again for all the wonderful reads over the years!

Louise

Thank you Louise for all your hard work for this group. Thank you to all the other moderators as well. Unfortunately, due to a very busy job and family commitments I wouldn't make a good moderator as I just don't have the time. Same goes for contributing to the group reads. Often I can just not manage, even if I read the book. Apologies for that.

I value the group, but as reading time is limited and I also want to read other books, I can't read a classic every months.

I would be happy to help moderate - I've only participated in one discussion thus far and was sad that there were so few participating. I agree that we need more participation from the members in the discussions. But I'm happy to help if I can - I'd really like to be more a part of a classic lit community!

Thanks Susan. I will contact you next week and give you more information. (It is snowing here as I prepare to visit my mother this weekend! I should be busy until Monday.)

Snowing here, too! A bit early, I must say... let the season begin!

Hi all,
I am also leaving this group as a moderator by the end of this year. I spend a couple of years as a moderator and I enjoyed it a lot as it also helped me read more classics, think about them more, understand them better and discover related topics, movies, articles and so much more.

Life has accelerated quite a bit this year for me and I couldn't really find the time anymore to actually actively engage with the group and the reads. I ended up being more an administrator than a moderator and didn't feel that this was doing right to you group members as you deserve moderators that put time and energy into moderating the group.

Thanks to all of you who have read along with us over the years, I enjoyed it all a lot and learned from all your different perspectives!

Nina

Thank you very much for all your hard work and patience over the past year. Much appreciated. Hope you can still join us in discussions.

Thanks to everyone who has helped moderate this group over the years! I was a moderator on a different website for a few years and it is definitely a huge time commitment. Hope to see you all around!

Hello, I've only just joined this group so this may be a bit forward but if you're still looking for a moderator I'd love to help out and become one. Classics are my favourites to read, I'm a member of a few groups on here and participate regularly in those. I've got quite a lot of spare time at the moment as well!