Yesterday, I checkout out one of Bodie and Brock Thoene books. I'm already hooked! 

Congratulations to Diane Moody for the release of her 4th book in her War Series The Journey from War. Since I am one of her proofreaders, I highly recommend it for all libraries. As some of you know she is also my sister. Click here for all the details!

This week is our VBS at our church. What I thought was going to be difficult has turned out to be a great experience. Each morning at 8:35 AM I meet with the preschoolers for a 4-minute story time. They get there early because their parents are setting up their classrooms or rehearsing the music.

We originally planned for it to be in our Enrichment Center, but we ended up with 50 kids and many teachers. My struggle has been selecting a book for toddlers through 5-year-olds. I only have 4 minutes which in reality is 2 minutes so the book does not matter. This morning I got lots of hugs as the kids lined up to go their next rooms.

Both mornings I have been shocked how attentive the kids are during the story. The other challenge is finding books about Jesus and Peter.  My other shock both mornings is how many adults come into the Enrichment Center to visit. So far only 4 have looked at the shelves. All the others just want to visit. So much for my to do list. I was thrilled when 4 teen boys came in yesterday! Yes, the floor trembled! One of them is a huge reader. He was looking for The Case for Christ and Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus. I am working with him to find what he wants. He returned today to checkout what we had and I'll connect with him next week when the other book arrives. Made my day! 

I also got to talk with the leader of Lifeway Kids Publishing. She is a member of our church and is a huge help in selecting books for kids. I recommended to her that Lifeway consider publishing undated books for kids that relate to the focus Bible passage each year for VBS. She knows about what we do on the Church Librarians Network so I could see the wheels going on in her mind. Here's hoping that might be a possibility in the future.

What are your personal VBS experiences with people this summer? 

As we observe Memorial Day, let’s think about our church’s collection of war history. Which war history authors of fiction and non-fiction appeal to people who use the library? Are there specific books by these authors that you recommend? 

We had a great response to Karin's question back in February. If you missed it, click here. Thought you would like to know more about this historical fiction trilogy. Book 1 is available as you see here. She hopes to have Book 2 available in a few months. We added Book 1 our collection last week. Click here to read all about it: The Lighthouse.

Can't wait for our readers to check it out!

During the April 2023 Disciple Leaders Network conference, we learned a lot about the importance of relationships in our churches today. Dr. Shelly Melia, Director of the Children's Ministry Masters Program, Dallas Baptist University, did an outstanding breakout session on the importance of relationships with children. Here are highlights for us to consider as librarians. I am preparing a paper to send Dr. Melia that applies her session points to church library ministry which we consider to be strategic support ministries to kid's ministries. As you read the following, capture your thoughts for Dr. Melia in the comments to this post. 

Be aware of issues children face today: adverse situations, anxiety, depression, suicide, loneliness, abusive experiences, neglect, household dysfunction.

She described what is called Trauma Informed Children's Ministry. Even though she never mentioned church libraries, all of the following are important for librarians: 

1. Be Attuned: New hunger for resilience. Our genuine interest in each child who uses the library can make a difference. Love their families.

2. Be Aware: Notice the kids which means more than just giving them attention.

3. Be Authentic: A filtered and formulistic faith is not an authentic faith. Prepare them for bad things that may happen in their lives. Libraries can play a big role here by having books that tell stories about bad experiences at different age levels. What else?

Dr. Melia ended her session with the concept of Ministry 5.1: Each child needs a healthy and safe relationship with 5 adults in our churches. Let's step up in strategic ways so that the library can be part of the children's ministry where kids can develop a healthy and safe relationship with a librarian. Kids need to feel safe in our libraries. The following are points she made about how to develop these relationships. Keep in mind that in a growing number of our churches today, teachers rotate Sundays so a child never really knows who their group teacher will be each Sunday. I'm thinking in most of our churches, the kids will know who will be in the library to greet them and talk with them on their level.

1. Spiritual formation is a priority. How do we apply this one through our libraries?

2. Individualistic to community model. How do we support our children's ministry to include the library as part of the kid's ministry community? How do we foster relations with children that make them feel they are part of the library community?

3. Dialogue rather than monologue. How can we talk with kids in dialogue so that we have the opportunity to listen to them tell us about a book they read? Instead of "did you like this book?" use "what did you learn with this book?" or  . . .

4. Rely on small groups for transformation rather than large groups. How can our story times with kids offer small group opportunities as part of the preschool ministry? Book Clubs?

5. Seek frequent ways to bless each child. What are ways to bless a child when he or she experiences the library?

Next week I'll use my notes from another speaker at the Disciple Leaders Network to start a discussion. Share your thoughts based on Dr. Melia's highlights. These seem to be strategic ways for church libraries to connect with children's ministries. Helps us understand what our children's ministers are dealing with every day.

Here's a video tour of the Central Baptist Church, Decatur, AL with an interview by Eva Nell and her pastor, Rob Jackson. Lots of ideas here! Also a great time to remember our friend and leader, Eva Nell Hunter.

The final reason stated by Lavender and Flack is conservation of our Baptist heritage. If your denomination is not Baptist, replace Baptist with the name of your denomination. Since 1934 when this book was published, Southern Baptists had a program that included the study of Baptist history. That ministry no longer exists in most churches today. Is there a ministry in your denomination that teaches history? Do church libraries conserve the history of churches in your denomination? 

Why Have a Church Library? Flake’s 6th Reason

Let’s continue our discussion starters stemming from the list of reasons found in Arthur Flake and Leona Lavender’s book. Their 6^th reason is Church Worker’s Need for Special Books. Let’s start a discussion about all the ways church libraries today assist leaders in all the ministries of our churches.

Note that Flake and Lavender included books to mentally and spiritually prepare leaders to serve as well as the how-to books. They listed the following types of books:" methods; Bible background books; religious and general reference books, studies in psychology and pedagogy, and various other general ans special books in biblical and spiritual fields which will help them toward spiritual growth and better fit them for service." (pages 17-18).

What do you have in your collection for leaders, teachers, deacons, missions, committees, and teams for training, spiritual growth, and service?

Their 5^th reason is A General Lack of Available Books.They admit that “there are more books in the world than any person could possibly read in ten lifetimes.” But they point out the lack of library services in many places in the United States during the 1930s.

We have all heard the phrase that we are living in a post-Roe day. Since the 1930s just about all Americans now have access to public libraries and bookstores. But are we not gradually seeing the bookstores close? Have you checked your public library to see if they carry acceptable books for Christian children and adults? Perhaps the day is coming when we will be living in post-Christian-book-availability as the Post-Christian society sweeps across our country.

What if our church libraries fill the gaps emerging in our culture? Is your pastor and church staff aware of this implication of the Post-Christian society? How many churches in your community, city, town, or region have libraries today? That might be worth finding out because the impact of a possible lack of Christian books in the public libraries in the future will raise the question: Where will people in churches that do not have libraries find acceptable reading material? 

Yes, they/we can always buy books from Amazon, Christianbook.com, and other online Christian retailers,but is that an option for all Americans? Just last week I had a young mother drop by the Enrichment Center. She is not a member of our church but she comes to our women's Bible studies on Wednesday mornings. She told me she and her two preschoolers have had a weekly routine to go to their public library one day a week. During their visit last Tuesday she discovered there are no longer any books that she finds acceptable for her preschoolers there. She was thrilled to know that she could start bringing her children to our library.

What would happen if our churches embraced their libraries as strategic parts of their outreach and discipleship tools for a post-Christian culture?  What if we thought of church libraries like we think of public libraries? A chain of libraries available to our communitiues, but we offer Bible-based fiction and non-fiction for all people.

Your thoughts?

Back in the 1920s and many years to follow, our two authors would never have thought of digital books. As you read what they wrote about the power of the printed page, include ebooks in all of their points. 

Direct quote from The Church Library Manual by Leona Lavender Althoff and Arthur Flake (1934) pages 15-16.

Here we can simply suggest the power of the printed page in the work of the churches. Set primarily to the tasks of winnning the lost and building Christlike character, the churches must not overlook this dynamic medium. Let the reader think into the evangelistic power of books and of how books on evangelism would strengthen the soul-winning fires of a church if a library were used to get them read. Consider the extension of soul-winning powers in to all missionary endeavors.

Think, then, into the practical value of books as a means of enlisting and training workers for service in the churches. Again, think of the spiritual character-building values of books that broaden Bible knowledge, deepen devotional life, heighten spiritual vision through inspiration, and strengthen the sinews of service in innumerable ways.

Surely, failure to appropriate the power of good books for the life of churches and of Christians is blindness more tragic in the realm of the spirit than failure to harness the power of a mighty waterfall in the realm of the material. Books can lift their readers to the heights or plunge them to the depths, and it is most arresting to consider that every civilized human being is affected by the fruits of the hearts and minds of those who have dared to express themselves in print. Like the ripple of the pebble dropped into a lake, thoughts are set in motion that spread to many another mind beforer they are spent. 

Even the hater of reading is influenced by what another reads. Printing presses are daily pouring out thousands of books and magazines. At some time in the past they have turned out word-pictures of crime and evil, of "isms" and false teachings, and today there is a harvest of the sowings. 

They have also turned out word-pictures of beauty and goodness, and there are, likewise, fruits from them. 

What a blessing it would be to have some part in saving readers from that which will harm them, and substitute in its place that which will strengthen and beautify their lives! How important it is for churches to grasp the idea of utilizing the printed page in the building of red-blooded Christian characters.

What jumps out to you as implications for our churches today?

Flake’s third reason was “A Need for Reading Guidance.” What are we doing today to meet that need? If you missed the introduction to this discussion, click here.

Flake and Lavender quoted a question that is still true for readers today: "Do you know that if you read this you cannot read that?" None of us have time to read all the books out there! They went on to write that believers should choose books that are worthy of our "precious" time. I'm sure I am not the only one that am regularly asked "what do you suggest?"

Just about everything we do falls into this category of recommendations. Just having the books and DVDs we have on the shelves is guiding people to find recommended books. These fiction and non-fiction books are guiding people in not only reading but also their spiritual growth and discipleship. Our selection policies keep us on track to have books and DVDs that our churches recommend.

How many of you use the promotion venues to recommend books? Last week we sent out our FHBC October email which featured pictures of our top 8 fiction authors that linked to their websites. Next month we will feature our top 8 non-fiction authors. 

What other ways to do you guide people to items in your church's collection?

Flake’s first reason was the fact that special libraries were found in most institutions in his day because they cannot trust other sources for its library sevices. These institutions include universities, colleges, high schools, hospitals, prisons, businesses, and law offices all had libraries focused on their concerns and needs. He also mentions "rental" libraries that focused on commercial purposes. Church libraries are considered special libraries to this day. Leona Lavender Althoff wrote: "The church library has the special privilege of bringing books to serve people who ordinarily do not seek them in other libraries." (The Church Library Manual (1934), p. 13)

Althoff went on to write: "Every church is sorely missing a real opportunity for spiritual service until it establishes and utilizes a good library of its very own." (p. 14). 

What about today?

Just shortly after transitioning my church's library to a broader ministry called the Enrichment Center, we discovered many people in our church used the public library. They verbally would tell our team that they did not need the church library. When we shared that we offered the same services that the public library did, they were surprised. They had no idea we had an online catalog and that they could email us what they wanted so that we could have it ready for them. And they were surprised we were open all the time with our self-checkout system. They are gradually starting to use our online catalog and include our library in their routines now. 

What are your thoughts about today compared to what Flack and Althoff wrote about their day (1930s)? What about our "opportunities for spiritual service"? Are your public libraries offering spiritual reading services today?

A common issue for church librarians these days seems to be the challenges some of us face with the leaders of our churches. While I am not seeing any increase in the numbers of churches closing their libraries, I am seeing an increase in the number of churches revitalizing or starting libraries. With that in mind, I started to put together a list of ways church libraries today contribute to the current making disciples strategies developing in our churches. While we are revitalizing and starting libraries, let's learn from our history.

The Church Librarians Network started in 1999 when a new church library team was launched at Lifeway. The Church Librarians Ministry magazine was discontinued so we thought we would launch a website where church librarians could get information but more importantly communicate with each other their ideas and their challenges. These have been amazing years of learning and growing together. But for Southern Baptists, church libraries started their journey back in 1927.

Arthur Flake is famous today for Flake's Formula which is being used by church leaders to grow churches through groups. In his day, those groups were called Sunday School classes. Due to his huge success in the church that he developed his formula, he became the first Secretary of the Department of Sunday School Administration at The Baptist Sunday School Board (now Lifeway). He had experience with the Sunday Schools of that day that taught children on Sundays how to read by reading the Bible. The only day these children could go to school was Sunday, their only day off from work. These Sunday Schools that were in many eastern states had libraries. But they were disorganized and mishandled. Flake took a library vision with him to The Baptist Sunday School Board of what “active, functioning church libraries could mean in the development of all phases of church work and believing that the successful operation of church libraries depended upon a practical and adequate plan of administration and promotion.” (page 12) In 1927 he added the promotion of Sunday School Libraries to his department's duties by hiring a full-time employee, Leona Lavendar. 

Leona Lavendar Althoff along with Flake wrote the first how-to book for Southern Baptist church librarians, The Church Library Manual. They had the full support of all the departments at The Sunday School Board. The first chapter of this book is titled "Why Have a Church Library?" The chapter outline features these reasons:

The 7 Reasons for Church Libraries

1. A Day of Special Libraries
2. A Means of Introducing People to Books
3. A Need of Reading Guidance
4. The Power of the Printed Page
5. A General Lack of Available Books
6. Church Worker's Need for Special Books
7. Conversation of our Baptist Heritage 

Here's where we will plug in to their story. In the coming weeks, let's reflect on the seven reasons published in 1934. Those of you in other denominations, you are encouraged to share what you know about your denomination's church library roots. Each week I will post one of the reasons in a new post so that we can discussion each post separately with connections to our day. What does each reason look like in our churches today? What could it look like in our day? Is this reason one that we need to communicate with our pastors and church staff and leaders?

Yesterday my sister, Diane Moody, shared with me a note she received from a reader. God used this note to nudge her to keep on writing her current book. That note gave her the confidence she needed to keep going.

As we talked, it dawned on me that you and I have ministry opportunities with all the authors who have books on the shelves in our libraries. Let's share how we let God speak through us as we communicate with authors who are discipling the people who read their books through libraries.

On top of that, a relatively new member of our church brought me a copy of one of his books. He is an author! He and I had a great conversation. Share with us how you connect with authors in your church or synagogue family.

During our team planning session a couple of weeks ago we included an idea from a young adult who has joined our team: sponsor "author speak" events for our church members who are authors. How do you do that? What do you call it?

Morlee

I've started reading biographies for awhile. Must say I am finding this book fascinating. I have read articles about Hannah More that were focused on her connection with Wilberforce. But there is much more to her journey. She and her sisters played huge roles in making it possible for young women to be educated beyond home making during their day. 

Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary life of Hannah More . . . Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist

Written by Karen Swallow Prior

The enthralling biography of the woman writer who helped end the slave trade, changed Britain's upper classes, and taught a nation how to read. The history-changing reforms of Hannah More affected every level of 18th-Century British society through her keen intellect, literary achievements, collaborative spirit, strong Christian principles, and colorful personality. A woman without connections or status, More took the world of British letters by storm when she arrived in London from Bristol, becoming a best-selling author and acclaimed playwright and quickly befriending the author Samuel Johnson, the politician Horace Walpole, and the actor David Garrick. Yet she was also a leader in the Evangelical movement, using her cultural position and her pen to support the growth of education for the poor, the reform of morals and manners, and the abolition of Britain's slave trade. Fierce Convictions weaves together world and personal history into a stirring story of life that intersected with Wesley and Whitefield's Great Awakening, the rise and influence of Evangelicalism, and convulsive effects of the French Revolution. A woman of exceptional intellectual gifts and literary talent, Hannah More was above all a person whose faith compelled her both to engage her culture and to transform it.

Wow, a bunch of us are having a GREAT experience reading Charles Martin’s third book of his Murphy Shepherd series: The Record Keeper. I am assuming I am not the only one having many profound spiritual reading experiences while reading this book. Early in the book I found the following quote made by Shepherd of something his mentor taught him:

"... when a kernal of wheat falls to the grouund, it dies alone. But if it is buried, watered, and fertilized, it puts down roots, spirals toward the sun, blossoms, and produces fruit. And what comes up is never the same as what was buried. It's exponentially more."  (page 13)

As I read that I realized that is exactly what our church library teams need to grasp as we serve Christ as disciple making librarians. Engaging people with discipleship through books, DVDs, and other materials takes time. Just getting people to know we exist is a major part of watering and fertilizing. Let's keep our eyes on Jesus as He puts down the roots and causes them to spiral toward the son. 

I plan to share this quote and reflection with our team when we meet August 10 to plan our new year together.

Those of you reading this book, what are some of your takeaways?

Revitalization is the current term for restarting a church library. Many of our churches are in the revitalization mode for all of the church ministries. Most of our new CLN members respond that they their church is revitalizing the library. Let's share our revitalization stories. What is happening with your church's library?

Who will be first?