Your Classics Club Survey Results

First, before I go into my article, take a look at the new layout of the blog. We were looking for something lighter and more modern. We hope you like it. We plan a few more changes, which will happen over time.

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A few weeks ago, we posted a survey the results of which we hope will help your new moderators learn what kinds of activities you are most interested in and that sort of thing, so that we can figure out some areas we’d like to explore. Whenever I take a survey, I like to find out the the results, so here they are.

Of about 380 members, 76 took the survey (about 20%, which is a good response), answered with only a few people skipping some of the questions.

First, we asked people how long they’d been members. We got about an equal number of responses for all choices except for those who were no longer members:

Exactly half of the respondents have been members three years or less, with an almost equal number being members more than three years.

Next, we asked about members’ Classics Club list. We found that most people are working on their first list (the second response asked about people’s second list), with only two people started on at least the third list:

For our third question, we have a nice varied response. Most of the respondents have read less than half of their list, with a few having made more progress than that:

We have a wider variety of answers about social media. It looks like most of the respondents read the posts from the Classics Club blog, but many people like Twitter, too. Fewer respondents use Facebook or Goodreads (although quite a few people have signed up to follow the Goodreads page lately). All of the people who responded Other listed Instagram:

Members’ preferences for blog posts are varied. It seems that they like most of the current types of posts we have:

We did get some good ideas for different types of posts under Other, including introductions to some of the more unusual books people have put on their classics lists, reviews or recommendations, or discussions, questions, and activities.

When we asked members to rank the special features that appear on the blog, they ranked the spins first. This graph is a little difficult to read because of the complexity of the answers, but 69% ranked the spins as first. The Monthly Memes came in with 36% of respondents putting them in second place. Sync reads had 34% of respondents putting them third, and an equal number of respondents put Sync reads and readathons fourth:

Finally, when we asked what new features people would like to see on the blog, we got a lot of responses for themed posts (77%) and features about classic authors (81%). Book review highlights also seemed popular (73%). Thirty to forty percent of respondents liked the idea of introductions to new members and more club-sponsored activities, although one person responded about being too busy to participate in many activities. Under Other, people suggested updating the blog list (working on it) and paying more attention to poetry,  readalongs, and themed reads. One person suggested providing freebies of classics, and I’m not sure how feasible that is. Perhaps links to free sites.

So, this survey has given us a lot to think about. We are planning some changes in the future, and we hope you like them.