Q&A

Patron/Customer Service

One of the North Alabama conference sessions on November 5 is focused on customer service. Why wait until November 5? The way we treat people who use church libraries kinda falls in the circluation category of all that we do. Let's use the following

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Filing System for Library Purchasing Receipts

Here's a twist on our filing system discussion. Let’s get specific about our filing systems.

How do you file purchasing receipts for the library? How long to do you keep these receipt files?

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Concourse inventory

Our library team has been conducting inventory of our library. None of us are very familiar with Concourse and the last time inventory was done was before Covid. We have completed the nonfiction, fiction, and DVD items but still have the children's i

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Communicating with Church Staff Ministers and Pastors

The start of a new church year is a great time to initiate or strengthen relationships with church staff ministers and pastors. How are you approaching that this year? Let’s share our stories.

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Filing System for a Church Library?

We have a new member who is revitalizing a church library. She wants to know what you use as a filing system for your needs. Do you use administration, collection development, promotion, and cataloging as the main categories with sub-categories? Or a

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2024 Transition: Serving Ministries in the New Church Year

Now is a great time to contact your age group ministers, women’s ministers, men’s ministers, and other ministers to discuss how the church library can assist their plans for the new ministry year. A common question for all of them involves their disc

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Our Annual Budget Preparation Discussion

For many of our church or synagogue families, the Finance Committee has started the process to prepare the budget for the next year. Of course, many other churches start their budget process during other months. Let’s discuss best practices for prepa

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Crucial Ideas for a New Library

One of our new Church Librarians Network members lives in the Nashville area, Lydia Neeley. She and her pastor are seriously talking about a vision for revitalizing the library in their church. She came to our Middle Tennessee librarians gathering on

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Building a Library with Zero Budget

During the April 20, 2024 Middle Tennessee Church Librarians Ministry Network gathering, we shared lots of great ideas for funding sources. What do you suggest?

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Sunday Morning Experiences

Yesterday I had an amazing experience with a couple who visited our church for the first time. They were in the Enrichment Center when I got there after Sunday School. Both were very excited about our library! We had a delightful conversation about t

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Churches with schools?

From Martha Jo Dendinger

Do you have separate libraries for the congregation and the school? We are acquiring  K-8 school with 87 students. Would love to hear from this wonderful group of wisdom.

Blessings,

Martha

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Fall Break?

Our schools are taking this week off for Fall Break. So our church weekday activities are cancelled this week. Our team is using our Wednesday workday to continue our inventory. How does your team use school break weeks?

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Looking for info on online apps and programs that can be used by both church and members

Hi, Everyone! 

I have been asked to organize our church library (it hasn't been reviewed in years). 

A friend of mine introduced me to the app LibraryThing and I know that it will be a HUGE help to me to organize.

But I'd love to find an online progr

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Circulation Desk?

We have not grappled with the Circulation Desk needs lately. How do you coordinate the Circulation Desk needs on Sundays and weekdays?

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Churchwide Reports

Do you have the opportunity to give reports to the church family in some way about the status of the library? Business Meetings? Staff Meetings? Did you have that opportunity in the past?  If you do, share with us how you do such. Note that this ques

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Training Approaches are Shifting

Church Library Ministry is well known among other ministries for the strong history of a variety of training events through the years. While many ministries have given up on providing training for church leaders due to lack of funding, librarians hav

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Team Building for a New Church Year

In addition to budget planning, many of us are in churches that are having “Promotion Day” this Sunday. Then the new weekday schedule begins at some point during the next two to three weeks. Does this season impact your church’s library? Is this seas

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Engaging and Coordinating Library Volunteers

Debbie, I would also like to receive your newsletters:  jadams@olivebaptist.org   Thank you!

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2024 Budget Planning

I just had my first email question about creating a budget for the new year. Churches vary on budget seasons so some of us are going to be receiving forms to fill out with deadlines in the next few weeks. Others won't have to do such for a few more w

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