Thinking and praying about the best way to start up a new church library at Polson Alliance Church.
We were given *bookstore shelving* (PTL) by another church.
We have boxes of already donated books and DVDs and videos.
We have the space in our fellowship hall and the approval of our elders/officers/pastor.
$0 budget but great potential!
Comments
How wonderful!
Wonderful advice, Joanne! Thanks so much.
Deanna
What exciting news, Deanna! Here are my suggestions:
Begin talking to others about what kinds of resources they would borrow from the library, and let that info guide your decision about what donations to keep and what to sell off, give away, or throw away. Videos are probably not worth keeping unless your own church has a working monitor to show them.
Find out from the board who are the ravenous readers among the congregation, and ask for their help in getting started.
Gather at least 2 or 3 interested people and work together on a Mission Statement. Get it approved by your church board. Then strategize together with your workers about publicity, fundraisers, automation/card system ?, first focus.
By first focus, I mean which area will you work on and present first to your readers? You can probably get your adult fiction up and going first, for example, then have a "mini" grand opening. Start announcing work days to prepare the next section. This will motivate people to volunteer to help make it happen. Publicize a list of tasks that you need help with - and ask for time donations of one and a half to two hours at a time. People will often stay longer to help but don't usually want to commit to a longer period beforehand.
Take pictures of work & workers in process and post them with captions about the progress, some place where many people will view them, or on the church website, or as a power point doc between services, etc. People are always curious about who's in the photo! Be sure workers are smiling!
Reflect and evaluate with your team on an ongoing basis.
Pray all the while!