Library Work

Hello,

I told the person who asked me to help with the church library that I would be fine working by myself. She was in favor of that idea as she lives a distance out of town. There are boxes of books in this room and not enough shelf space for all of these books. Obviously some books have to go. Unfortunately I believe there is no group that is specifically in charge. Perhaps I will be come in charge by default.

We had talked about getting rid of most of the fiction and duplications in a book sale. Our concentration would be on self help books for grieving, family, or other life stresses. There are also a number of theology books that seem to have a natural place in a church library.

I went over to the church eager to weed out much of this fiction as some of it is from the 1970’s or older. I tackled box after box before I thought about the response from the congregation when they learn that some of their old favorites have been eliminated. “Who knows,” I ruminated, “They might run me out of town on a rail.”

Someone had stated that religious fiction should be included in the collection. That brings up all types of questions about that genre including the writing, intent, peachiness, and is it diametrically opposed to the Lutheran ideas of how God acts in our lives. Does any of this matter? After all of that running around in my head, I had to quit and come home.

Now I believe that we must have a mission statement for the library. Who is going to write that? Me? We will see where all of this goes. I would hope that people understand some of the books need to go as they do not fit on the shelves and almost no one uses this library. I believe that use will increase with organization and promotion.

Paula