Hi Cherie - I was just perusing the site and noticed your post from two years ago has gone unanswered. How are things going now? Did you get that library up and running? Do you still have questions?
We have deliberately chosen not to go that route, for several reasons.
One is that our church has a lot of people who like to borrow books, so we have lots of traffic and our usage is always pretty high.
But a bigger reason is that I have watched my husband try to borrow ebooks from our local village library and it was a pain. Maybe the technology has improved now, as it has been a while since he did it, but it has kind of turned us off the idea.
Either way, at the church library we are busy enough with the physical space, books, dvds and audiobooks that we have not felt the need to expand in this way. However, I can see that if a library doesn't have much traffic it might be a good way to spend part of the budget.
I like the mini-lab idea, although our church library gets loads of traffic. The benefit I could see in our situation is that our library space is not all that big and it can get congested in there. Having stations around the building might be a way to reduce that a bit, as well as a way to introduce new people to the library.
Also....we are so blessed....we almost have more volunteers for working in the library than we can use!!!
I belong to a Baptist church in Michigan and we have a thriving library that sees constant and consistent use. Our congregation numbers around 400-450; our library contains 11,000 books (including a small collection of audio books, CDs for children, and DVDs for children and families). At any given time more than 140 people have something out on loan. I know that many church libraries close because of lack of use, and I don't really know what it is that keeps ours so popular. However, many of our people tell us it's the best one they've ever seen, and though I help run it and so probably shouldn't say so, I believe they are correct! My co-librarian and I work hard to keep it relevant, attractive, easy to navigate, and fun. We conduct reading challenges for adults, and summer reading programs for kids (and sometimes adults as well). We put out a monthly newsletter. While it's true many resources are now available on-line, and there are a number of good public libraries in our area, there still seems to be a deep need for what we offer!
I go to a Baptist church of about 500-600 people. We have a library that contains upwards of 10,000 books and it is a busy place every single Sunday. It is also open on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, and while traffic is much less then, it still gets used some. Any given week, around 150 people have something out from the library. I think our church is unusual in this (based purely on my own observations in churches i visit) and I don't really know for sure why it's this way, but there are a lot of people in our church who think the library is one of our great strengths.
Our active users range in age from pre-schoolers who can only just write their names on the cards, to a home-bound man in his 90's for whom we put together a stack of books every couple of weeks. There are lots of people who come in every single week to get new books.
We have worked hard to make the library a pleasant and attractive space. It is not very big, so we've tried to make everything as accessible as possible. We have a number of different display areas where we place featured items - for example, books which are featured in our monthly newsletter, or seasonal books...and we even have an endcap display on which we place "bottom shelf books" - because they are hard for our older patrons to reach!
We try to make it as easy as possible to find what someone is looking for by using helpful spine labels - historical fiction, mystery, etc, but also series labels which I type and affix to the tops of the spines.
We conduct summer reading programs for all ages and also Adult Reading Challenges during the winter months.
We have done reading aloud programs for the pre-schoolers and although we don't have a formal program now, we are still available to do it if a teacher asks.
We put out a monthly newsletter with interesting articles and information about upcoming programs, book reviews, lists of new items in the library (and we keep a mailing list for this newsletter, if you're interested in seeing it!)
So...in our church, the answer is a resounding YES! There is still a place for a library in our church, and for some people, it's one of the reasons they chose to come there.
We sponsor summer reading programs for kids (and sometimes, adults) and winter reading challenges for adults, and these have increased our circulation considerably. We make the kids' programs as interesting as we can, and challenging without being overwhelming. We typically have a good number of people participating in our programs and challenges and, most importantly, they seem to enjoy it and adults, in particular, have commented that they have been spurred on to read genres they might not otherwise have considered (this is always one of our goals, to get people out of their reading rut).
We publish a monthly newsletter, in which we always print a main article and list of new books in the library, along with reviews, or an author focus, or patron interviews, or a genre focus, or more. We make sure to display all the books mentioned in each newsletter on a highly visible, red bookcase.
My friend and I run our library together, along with a committee of about eight or ten other people. My friend is not a trained librarian but did, for many years, sell books through some direct-from-publishers order business which she established, so she is pretty knowledgeable about the publishing aspect of things. I got exactly half-way through library school before our oldest child was born. Admittedly this was a long time ago, but I also volunteered at my local library for some years before we started running our church library.
On our committee there are a few ladies who have worked in libraries before or still do so now.
I know of a few churches which have librarians who have actual librarian training/experience...but I suspect this is a small minority.
I highly recommend working with a co-librarian and/or committee. We have both - my co and I basically run things and make the decisions, but our committee is invaluable to us in terms of helping to keep the place running. We try to have two librarians on duty every Sunday, just because most weeks we have so much traffic. That way, one person can process books and the other can help with that, or be available to answer questions. During our summer reading program (going on right now), over 500 items are out at a time, so there is a LOT of processing going on (not that many go out every week; this includes all books currently checked out).
In terms of cataloging, if you want to use Dewey for non-fiction, I recommend 200 Religion Class from DDC 20. It's a small book that has Dewey numbers for books in the 200's. I know some church libraries develop their own system of subjects for non-fiction, but to me it's kind of making work where it's not needed, because that is essentially what Dewey IS. If your library is small, you can use broader classifications (ie 220, Bible, instead of, say, 220.520, KJV).
I also highly recommend LibraryThing.com, an on-line catalog that is inexpensive, easy to use, and has great user support. They provide Dewey numbers for many books, but if they don't I generally check WorldCat.org as well.
We have a very active church library. Our church has about 500-550 people; the library holds around 11,000 items (books, audio and dvd) and we typically have several hundred active patrons at any one time, from kids barely old enough to write their own name on the cards (yes, we're still using cards) to the oldest people in the church (one of whom is home-bound but we take him books every week). The library is near one of the main entrances, which is just down from the sanctuary, so although we'd love to have a bigger space, even if one were available we probably wouldn't take it; our location is just too good to give up for more room.
This library was established about 40 years ago, and when my friend and I took it over in 2013 it already had a lot going for it and lots of people used it. In those almost-8 years, we have improved it in a number of ways and increased usage. I don't really know to what to attribute it, but I think it's at least in part that it seems we just have readers in our church. However, we also work hard to have relevant books, a nice children's corner, spine labels which make it easy for patrons to find certain genres or all the books in a series, and the like. We also have a reading program every summer for kids (and sometimes it includes teens and adults) and also an adult reading challenge of some sort at some other time of year. We put out a monthly newsletter with a feature article and lots of information about new books, authors, reading progams, book reviews etc. (you can be on the mailing list for this if you are interested). For a while we read aloud in the younger kids' church time, but it has been several years since we did that.
I think a library can be a tremendous tool for spiritual growth in a church, and we consider ourselves fortunate that our pastors are very supportive of our efforts. Our CE pastor has asked us to create an area for Adult CE resources, and he constantly points the teachers of adult SS classes in our direction. Our lead pastor will occasionally refer to a book in his message, and usually either asks if it's in the library or has looked it up ahead of time in our on-line catalog. We do not take this support for granted, as we have heard of so many pastors who are not on board with the library.
We love the ECLA! We live in southwest Michigan and have been to their conference a few times and loved it (my friend and I both spoke one year, too). We are looking forward to the next one in a few weeks!
They are also very good about providing assistance to librarians via a mentorship program of sorts. If you have questions, they will match you up with another librarian who might be able to help you out.
Posted in: Looking for Help Running a Church Library
Hi Cherie - I was just perusing the site and noticed your post from two years ago has gone unanswered. How are things going now? Did you get that library up and running? Do you still have questions?
Debbie
Posted in: Does Anyone Have Ebooks in Their Church Library?
We have deliberately chosen not to go that route, for several reasons.
One is that our church has a lot of people who like to borrow books, so we have lots of traffic and our usage is always pretty high.
But a bigger reason is that I have watched my husband try to borrow ebooks from our local village library and it was a pain. Maybe the technology has improved now, as it has been a while since he did it, but it has kind of turned us off the idea.
Either way, at the church library we are busy enough with the physical space, books, dvds and audiobooks that we have not felt the need to expand in this way. However, I can see that if a library doesn't have much traffic it might be a good way to spend part of the budget.
Posted in: Church Libraries: Mini-labs for Adaptive Change
I like the mini-lab idea, although our church library gets loads of traffic. The benefit I could see in our situation is that our library space is not all that big and it can get congested in there. Having stations around the building might be a way to reduce that a bit, as well as a way to introduce new people to the library.
Also....we are so blessed....we almost have more volunteers for working in the library than we can use!!!
Posted in: Is There Still a Place for Church Libraries?
And I totally didn't realize I had already posted here...my bad.
Posted in: Is There Still a Place for Church Libraries?
I belong to a Baptist church in Michigan and we have a thriving library that sees constant and consistent use. Our congregation numbers around 400-450; our library contains 11,000 books (including a small collection of audio books, CDs for children, and DVDs for children and families). At any given time more than 140 people have something out on loan. I know that many church libraries close because of lack of use, and I don't really know what it is that keeps ours so popular. However, many of our people tell us it's the best one they've ever seen, and though I help run it and so probably shouldn't say so, I believe they are correct! My co-librarian and I work hard to keep it relevant, attractive, easy to navigate, and fun. We conduct reading challenges for adults, and summer reading programs for kids (and sometimes adults as well). We put out a monthly newsletter. While it's true many resources are now available on-line, and there are a number of good public libraries in our area, there still seems to be a deep need for what we offer!
Posted in: Is There Still a Place for Church Libraries?
Same story as above! Good grief, I really should look more carefully before posting!
Posted in: Is There Still a Place for Church Libraries?
I go to a Baptist church of about 500-600 people. We have a library that contains upwards of 10,000 books and it is a busy place every single Sunday. It is also open on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, and while traffic is much less then, it still gets used some. Any given week, around 150 people have something out from the library. I think our church is unusual in this (based purely on my own observations in churches i visit) and I don't really know for sure why it's this way, but there are a lot of people in our church who think the library is one of our great strengths.
Our active users range in age from pre-schoolers who can only just write their names on the cards, to a home-bound man in his 90's for whom we put together a stack of books every couple of weeks. There are lots of people who come in every single week to get new books.
We have worked hard to make the library a pleasant and attractive space. It is not very big, so we've tried to make everything as accessible as possible. We have a number of different display areas where we place featured items - for example, books which are featured in our monthly newsletter, or seasonal books...and we even have an endcap display on which we place "bottom shelf books" - because they are hard for our older patrons to reach!
We try to make it as easy as possible to find what someone is looking for by using helpful spine labels - historical fiction, mystery, etc, but also series labels which I type and affix to the tops of the spines.
We conduct summer reading programs for all ages and also Adult Reading Challenges during the winter months.
We have done reading aloud programs for the pre-schoolers and although we don't have a formal program now, we are still available to do it if a teacher asks.
We put out a monthly newsletter with interesting articles and information about upcoming programs, book reviews, lists of new items in the library (and we keep a mailing list for this newsletter, if you're interested in seeing it!)
So...in our church, the answer is a resounding YES! There is still a place for a library in our church, and for some people, it's one of the reasons they chose to come there.
Posted in: Is There Still a Place for Church Libraries?
We sponsor summer reading programs for kids (and sometimes, adults) and winter reading challenges for adults, and these have increased our circulation considerably. We make the kids' programs as interesting as we can, and challenging without being overwhelming. We typically have a good number of people participating in our programs and challenges and, most importantly, they seem to enjoy it and adults, in particular, have commented that they have been spurred on to read genres they might not otherwise have considered (this is always one of our goals, to get people out of their reading rut).
We publish a monthly newsletter, in which we always print a main article and list of new books in the library, along with reviews, or an author focus, or patron interviews, or a genre focus, or more. We make sure to display all the books mentioned in each newsletter on a highly visible, red bookcase.
Posted in: Is There Still a Place for Church Libraries?
My friend and I run our library together, along with a committee of about eight or ten other people. My friend is not a trained librarian but did, for many years, sell books through some direct-from-publishers order business which she established, so she is pretty knowledgeable about the publishing aspect of things. I got exactly half-way through library school before our oldest child was born. Admittedly this was a long time ago, but I also volunteered at my local library for some years before we started running our church library.
On our committee there are a few ladies who have worked in libraries before or still do so now.
I know of a few churches which have librarians who have actual librarian training/experience...but I suspect this is a small minority.
Posted in: Is There Still a Place for Church Libraries?
I highly recommend working with a co-librarian and/or committee. We have both - my co and I basically run things and make the decisions, but our committee is invaluable to us in terms of helping to keep the place running. We try to have two librarians on duty every Sunday, just because most weeks we have so much traffic. That way, one person can process books and the other can help with that, or be available to answer questions. During our summer reading program (going on right now), over 500 items are out at a time, so there is a LOT of processing going on (not that many go out every week; this includes all books currently checked out).
In terms of cataloging, if you want to use Dewey for non-fiction, I recommend 200 Religion Class from DDC 20. It's a small book that has Dewey numbers for books in the 200's. I know some church libraries develop their own system of subjects for non-fiction, but to me it's kind of making work where it's not needed, because that is essentially what Dewey IS. If your library is small, you can use broader classifications (ie 220, Bible, instead of, say, 220.520, KJV).
I also highly recommend LibraryThing.com, an on-line catalog that is inexpensive, easy to use, and has great user support. They provide Dewey numbers for many books, but if they don't I generally check WorldCat.org as well.
Posted in: Is There Still a Place for Church Libraries?
We have a very active church library. Our church has about 500-550 people; the library holds around 11,000 items (books, audio and dvd) and we typically have several hundred active patrons at any one time, from kids barely old enough to write their own name on the cards (yes, we're still using cards) to the oldest people in the church (one of whom is home-bound but we take him books every week). The library is near one of the main entrances, which is just down from the sanctuary, so although we'd love to have a bigger space, even if one were available we probably wouldn't take it; our location is just too good to give up for more room.
This library was established about 40 years ago, and when my friend and I took it over in 2013 it already had a lot going for it and lots of people used it. In those almost-8 years, we have improved it in a number of ways and increased usage. I don't really know to what to attribute it, but I think it's at least in part that it seems we just have readers in our church. However, we also work hard to have relevant books, a nice children's corner, spine labels which make it easy for patrons to find certain genres or all the books in a series, and the like. We also have a reading program every summer for kids (and sometimes it includes teens and adults) and also an adult reading challenge of some sort at some other time of year. We put out a monthly newsletter with a feature article and lots of information about new books, authors, reading progams, book reviews etc. (you can be on the mailing list for this if you are interested). For a while we read aloud in the younger kids' church time, but it has been several years since we did that.
I think a library can be a tremendous tool for spiritual growth in a church, and we consider ourselves fortunate that our pastors are very supportive of our efforts. Our CE pastor has asked us to create an area for Adult CE resources, and he constantly points the teachers of adult SS classes in our direction. Our lead pastor will occasionally refer to a book in his message, and usually either asks if it's in the library or has looked it up ahead of time in our on-line catalog. We do not take this support for granted, as we have heard of so many pastors who are not on board with the library.
Posted in: Help for Running the Church Library
We love the ECLA! We live in southwest Michigan and have been to their conference a few times and loved it (my friend and I both spoke one year, too). We are looking forward to the next one in a few weeks!
They are also very good about providing assistance to librarians via a mentorship program of sorts. If you have questions, they will match you up with another librarian who might be able to help you out.