Q&A

2024 Transitions: Inventory

How do you approach the inventory task? For our growing number of new librarians joining the CLN, share your inventory tips whether you conduct the inventory manually or with software. 

Read more…

Alabama Authors

Barbara Rodgers asks the following:

My church is located in Alabama and I want to create a seperate space to shelve books by Alabama authors. Where can I find a collated list of books by Alabama authors? Of course I am only interested in the titles t

Read more…

Shelving Bible-based Materials

Sabrina J has a question about shelving.

Our church library collection of over 12k items was given away (except for reference material) several years ago so the library would close. We have a new much smaller spot as well. Looking back, we see how th

Read more…

Recommend these children's/ teens' authors?

Hi!

The latest Christianbook catalog had a few pages dedicated to children's fiction.

Any feedback/ concerns/ recommendations for these authors or series?

1. Chuck Black, Kingdom series (8-12yo)
2. Chuck Black, Knights of Arrethtrae series (not sure of recomme

Read more…

Youth Resource Recommendation?

Nancy Martin is searching for book about Daniel that is suitable for youth. Any recommendations?

Read more…

Collection Development on North American Missions, Annie Armstrong, and 20th and 21st centuries missions?

From Christy Hansen:

I am interested in adding a small handfull of titles to our library's collection some books, for both children and adults, on either Annie Armstrong and/or modern North American missionary work in the 20th and 21st centuries.  Ou

Read more…

Collection Development: Chapter History Books for 3-5 Graders

We have biography series but only a few history books for 3-5 graders. Any recommendations? I have a very frustrated 5th grade girl waiting for us to meet her interests! HELP!

Read more…

Collection Development: Devotional Books for Children

People ask us for recommendations for devotionals even though we may not include devotional books in the collection because people would check them out for a year.

What do you recommend they purchase for devotional books for children that have devot

Read more…

Purging Non-Fiction Books?

Barbara Brown asked the following:

Need some ideas on how to purge non-fiction books. They have never been purged! Our fiction section is the most popular and non-fiction books are seldomly checked out except for a few authors.

Thanks!

Barbara Brown

Read more…

Collection Development: Peace

Let’s focus on the memory of Martin Luther King today by sharing books we have in our collections on peace. 

Read more…

Adult Fiction

I need to update the adult fiction section. We havenot had anything new in a while. I came across Jill Eileen Smith's collection of Wives through the Bible. This is old enough that I could probably get a lot of it used. I have read one book. I have r

Read more…

Recommendations for Books related to Thanksgiving

Books on Thanksgiving?  Boooks on gratitude?  Lots out there for children, but am having trouble finding ones for older teens or adult books on Thanksgiving.

Thanks!

Martha Wilson

Read more…

Cookbooks?

Emily Belz is a staff writer for "Christianity Today" magazine. She emailed me the following:

“I'm writing about what happened to church cookbooks; do any churches still produce them? What is the story and timeline of their decline? Do librarians kee

Read more…

Lend a Hand to Overcome Depression!!!!

Read more…

Lend a Hand to Overcome Depression!!!

Invitation to recommend spiritual books to use as bibliotherapeutic tools to overcome depression!!!

My name is Caroline Sarah, and I hail from Tamilnadu, India. Currently, I am a doctoral student at the University of Jerusalem. My research focuses on

Read more…

Self Check-In/Check-Out Equipment?

Those of you who have electronic equipment for self-checkout and check-in, what are our recommendations? Do you have any shopping advice for such machines? 

 

 

Read more…

The role of Church Librarians in Bibliotherapy

The role of church librarians in offering resources to congregants during challenging times through the provision of spiritual reading materials is of great importance. Such resources can provide comfort, guidance, and support to individuals seeking

Read more…

Overdue Books and other Items

I would like to hear how other librarians manage notifications of overdue books, and at what point do you just pronounce a book as lost and decide whether to replace it or not. We do not charge fines.This is the least enjoyable duty for me as librari

Read more…

Young Adults/Teens Collection

Amy Burke needs suggestions for Christian fiction and Christian Graphic Novels for young adult/teens. In order to minister to all age groups,  I am trying different things. I decided to create a Teen Satellite Library in our Youth Center. The Youth M

Read more…