Even though communities have existed forever, professionally building them is a recent phenomenon. Therefore, it is difficult to find expert resources on this topic.
Here is a list of 5 books on community by people who have done it:
The Business of Belonging by David Spinks
David Spinks is the founder of CMX - the community for community builders - that was acquired by Bevy. Every year, CMX hosts the community industry’s largest event - CMX Summit. He is one of the most important thought leaders when it comes to community building.
Building Brand Communities by Carrie Melissa Jones
Carrie was the founding partner and COO of CMX. She has created communities for presidential campaigns, non-profits, small businesses and the Fortune Global 50. She has been leading communities since the early 2000s.
The Art of Community by Jono Bacon
Jono Bacon was the former community manager of Ubuntu, Linux the open-source operating system with a formidable community. He has since worked with a broad range of clients including Github, Airbnb and Microsoft. So you can be confident that he knows community building.
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
Priya is the host of the New York Times podcast, Together Apart. Trained in the field of conflict resolution, Parker has worked on race relations on American college campuses and on peace processes in the Arab world, southern Africa, and India.
Build Your Community by Richard Millington
Richard is the founder of Feverbee. Over the past 13 years, Richard has helped to develop over 150+ successful communities, including those for Google, The World Bank, Oracle, Amazon, Lego, The United Nations and many more. He is a frequent speaker - so you can find his expert talks all over on Youtube.