We are still in the process of setting up our library, getting spine lables on books and figuring out shelf organization. An area I've been putting off dealing with is Bible studies. Our shelves are 3'x7' and one entire shelving unit is Bible studies. Personally, I find it a bit daunting to look at, and we've been discussing how to organize them. Some work well topically; others in a series might work better organized by publisher or author (Navigators, Ray Vander Lann, for example). One idea I had is to place individual Bible studies next to the topical area that they most closely match--we are not using Dewey, but rather have identified and placed materials into topical, color-coded categories--so, for example, if we have a Bible study on suffering, it could be placed next to the category "Suffering." My thinking is that this would make the studies more accessible, rather than having them stuffed into one big shelf, even if they are organized by topic there. It would also solve the problem of having multiple copies of books ("Captivating," for example) on one shelf and the corresponding Bible study on another.
What are opinions on this idea? Do you see pitfalls? How have others organized Bible studies?
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We don't include any Bible studiy books in the cataloged area of the Library. They are grouped on a shelf behind the checkout desk and are available to take. The Library buys no Bible studies. These are books left over from classes. If any are donated with writing they go into recycling or book sale, depending on amount of writing. Kits of DVDs with books and other literature are stored together by study in individual cases and are catalogued and available for checkout. All Bible study materials were bought with Sunday School budget money and shelved in the Library.