Next Chapter Book Club and First Chapter Book Club

Program Overview

The Next Chapter Book Club (NCBC) program provides adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities with all reading level abilities the opportunity to read, discuss books, and socialize while participating in an age appropriate activity. The NCBC is an international program created in 2002 by Dr. Thomas Fish, the Director of Social Work at The Ohio State University's Nisonger Center for Excellence in Disabilities. It is the largest community-based literacy program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the world. The NCBC program at Ollie Webb Center, Inc. is the first and largest NCBC program in Nebraska. There are numerous book clubs operating in the Omaha metro.

The NCBC focuses on three major components: Community Inclusion, Social Connectedness, and Literacy. The NCBC program offers adults an opportunity to practice communication and literacy as well as learn social skills necessary to navigate in the community and the workforce in a tolerant and supported environment. Trained facilitators model conversational skills and club members practice these skills by actively participating in weekly discussions about the book and often, how the events in the book relate to their lives. The participants become more confident in their communication abilities.

The First Chapter Book Club (FCBC) program uses the same model but is aimed at high school students. The FCBC starts the high school student on the path of life-long literacy and learning; and helps the student to seamlessly transition to an adult NCBC when they finish high school, should they choose to continue. All participants in FCBC are high school students who are enrolled in special education services and their peers who live in the greater Omaha metropolitan area. All participants, both students with special needs and their typical peers, are impacted by the experience of an inclusive program where all strengths are valued and all areas of deficit are supported by those in the group.

Cost Info

Student and Volunteer Success Stories

After belonging to a NCBC for only a month, a parent of one of our young adult members sent an email to report her daughter has never been more interested in reading than she has after attending the club. She said her daughter fills idle time now by reading her club book and aims to have good knowledge of the story so she can be involved in the discussions held at the weekly meetings. This mother also reported her daughter, who has had a difficulty developing friendships since her time in the school system has expired, has made plans to see new found friends outside of book club forming natural, age-typical friendships.