AI-Powered Book Club and Local Bookstore Connector

ShelfSprout

Qadira Razman, Ranju Krishna

Project Brief:

Target Learning Audience: Book club organizers, avid readers, independent bookstore owners, and small business owners. The audience would also encapsulate women and non-binary folks since this community would function as a safe space for them.

Identified Learning Need:

Book clubs have the ability to play a vital role in fostering community engagement and literary appreciation. However, to create and execute a successful book club is easier said than done. Book clubs actually have the potential to be a ‘high-leverage pedagogical strategy’ (Polleck, 2024). They offer alternative spaces that can be simultaneously safe and intellectually challenging. Many book club organizers struggle with logistical challenges, such as finding accessible places to meet, sourcing books affordably, and discovering local businesses and events that align with a range of reading interests. Independent bookstores, on the other side of the coin, are constantly searching for ways to attract and engage readers but they might lack the digital tools to connect with book clubs in the area. Book clubs have been known to allow individuals to not only strengthen their emotional connections to the stories at hand but also with others (Stone & Maimone, 2024). This speaks to the ability of a book club to enhance a stronger and more meaningful sense of community engagement by providing these curated literary experiences. In bridging this gap between book clubs and bookstores, we have the opportunity to strengthen literary communities while supporting small businesses.

Rationale for AI Assistance:

AI would aid in creating a curated, personalized recommendation system for book club groups to find their next book and vendor, as well as finding solutions for locations and logistics for meetings. These tasks would take longer or contain inaccuracies if done by humans, so introducing AI as the solution to this problem would create an efficient system for both book clubs and bookstore vendors. In terms of the book club users, AI could also assist in creating discussion questions for groups, suggesting activities that relate to the chosen novel that the club can partake in, and many more instances. AI could become a helpful facilitator in creative ideation for book club users in this situation. Additionally, AI would assist in somewhat complicated tasks for indie bookstores such as inventory management that reflects changes made through bookclubs selecting them as their store, and track overall revenue and suggest any areas of improvement. Prior research has been conducted on the usage of AI to empower small businesses, with many studies reporting that AI can optimize inventory management “with up to 70% cost reduction” (Demirci, 2024). Employing AI for this product would solve the problem of inaccurate recommendations from existing products and help ShelfSprout become a powerful tool for small businesses to create a steady stream of revenue, and foster a tight-knit community between bookclubs and bookstores.

References:

Polleck, J. (2024). Engaging Minds Through Literature. literacyworldwide.org Stone, S., & Maimone, J. M. (2024). Crafting a Pandemic Book Club. The Library Quarterly., 94(2), 202–218. https://doi.org/10.1086/729232 Demirci, S. (2024, March 27). Empowering Small Businesses: The Impact of AI on Leveling the Playing Field - Orion Policy Institute. Orion Policy Institute. https://orionpolicy.org/empowering-small-businesses-the-impact-of-ai-on-leveling-the-playing-field/