Good ideas from Carol in her response. I would also suggest that you purchase a copy of Church Library Ministry Information Service available from LifeWay Christian Resources and use the guidelines for selecting and processing materials in your church library.
Go to the Church Library website at www.lifeway.com/churchlibrary; find the "Quick Links" column on the right of your screen -- choose "Subject Index of online resources for Church Library." You will find a treasure trove of articles on selection, processing and all other aspects of CLM. Read (and print, if you want too!) the articles which apply to your needs of the moment. The Mediagraphies will be a great help in looking for resources for all age groups!
And, as Carol suggested, pray for the process! I find that I am guilty sometimes of skipping that important first step!
As a first step I would suggest coming up with a mission statement for your library ministry. This is what is on our church website, although there are more detailed policies elsewhere.
Media Ministries
The purpose of media ministries is to provide materials to educate, train and equip our staff, congregation and community members in order to advance the mission of our church, which is to "develop a people who are becoming more and more like Christ."
It is important to remember that "of making many books, there is no end" Ecc 12:12 :) Your mission statement will help you to decide on what materials you select for your church library. I recommend http//www.eclalibraries.org/book_lists.html for some helpful book lists and selection tools. We try to honor patrons requests as much as possible and as funds allow. We have many patrons who like fiction but a good library needs to have a variety of resources that includes biographies, reference, children, young adult, christian living etc. also. On the Evangelical Christian Publishers site http://www.ecpa.org/ you can find a list of the 2009 Christian Book Award Winners as well as a list of the member publishers. I have found that there is so much useful information on publishers websites.
And last but not least, pray that God would direct the selection process!
Replies
Go to the Church Library website at www.lifeway.com/churchlibrary; find the "Quick Links" column on the right of your screen -- choose "Subject Index of online resources for Church Library." You will find a treasure trove of articles on selection, processing and all other aspects of CLM. Read (and print, if you want too!) the articles which apply to your needs of the moment. The Mediagraphies will be a great help in looking for resources for all age groups!
And, as Carol suggested, pray for the process! I find that I am guilty sometimes of skipping that important first step!
Media Ministries
The purpose of media ministries is to provide materials to educate, train and equip our staff, congregation and community members in order to advance the mission of our church, which is to "develop a people who are becoming more and more like Christ."
It is important to remember that "of making many books, there is no end" Ecc 12:12 :) Your mission statement will help you to decide on what materials you select for your church library. I recommend http//www.eclalibraries.org/book_lists.html for some helpful book lists and selection tools. We try to honor patrons requests as much as possible and as funds allow. We have many patrons who like fiction but a good library needs to have a variety of resources that includes biographies, reference, children, young adult, christian living etc. also. On the Evangelical Christian Publishers site http://www.ecpa.org/ you can find a list of the 2009 Christian Book Award Winners as well as a list of the member publishers. I have found that there is so much useful information on publishers websites.
And last but not least, pray that God would direct the selection process!