Hello everyone, 

I'm new here and I've love to hear about the libraries you manage. Who do you serve (your church or the public?) and by extension, what do you collect (Christian materials only, or non-objectionable materials by any authors)? When are you open, and what is your purpose? If your location does not house a school, who are you reaching and how? What materials get the most use and why? Any new goals? I know that we all oversee/work in church libraries, but these can all be very different!

I'll get us started. I believe that I am the first layperson given oversight over our church's library, but it was reasonably well-established when I began. It's hosted in an open room at the back of our sanctuary, and its primary intent is to contribute to the growth of our members (and their children) in spiritual health, biblical truth, and the doctrines of the church. As such, the adult collection does not contain fiction. As the budget is limited, I generally don't purchase titles that can be easily obtained for free through the public library system (which,living in Rhode Island, is very robust). It is only accessible during our public gatherings. 

When I began about a year ago, there were picture books and adult books, with little in between. The picture books definitely get a great deal of use from our many families during the service and through borrowing. But I noticed that many chapter book readers had secular books in the service, and wanted to make quality materials available to them, as well. So my priority in the last year has been maintaining and consistently adding to the adult collection while also quickly building a youth/YA collection.

I'm also going to make a plug for 10ofthose.com here; they were a great resource when building up the youth collection. They were the only place I could find new editions of Patricia St John novels that weren't edited beyond recognition from the originals.

So tell me where you are, what you're doing, and how you're doing it :-)