Q&A

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.

Read more…

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

Read more…

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

Read more…

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

Read more…

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

Read more…

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?

Read more…

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

Read more…

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

Read more…

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?

Read more…

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

Read more…

Circulation Desk?

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

Read more…

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

Read more…

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

Read more…

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

Read more…

Engaging and Coordinating Library Volunteers

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

Read more…

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

Read more…

Library Team Leadership Transitions

Email from Julianna Baucant:

Our church librarian, Nettie K. passed an article around for all library volunteers to read. The article was titled, 'Important Relationships: Church Librarians and Children.' It changed my perspective on things. The auth

Read more…

Donations Policy

I have been asked to update our policy on receiving donations. Would you  please post a question to ask for examples of receiving gifts of books and media to the media library?  Our policy has not been updated in several years and needs to be more sp

Read more…

Library Supplies

Last year, we moved to using Atriuum/Book Systems for our church library. In the past we used a computer system but still used book pockets and cards as well.  We have hundreds (maybe a thousand each) of library book pockets (2 styles) and cards (2 c

Read more…