Here's a place on the CLN for us to share what is happening in our library ministries. We can learn from each other in lots of ways such as through the Q&A and The Circle where we share ideas. We can also learn from each other through our stories.

This new tab is a place for us to write about our church library experiences as we live out opportunities God planned for us and our teams. Let’s encourage each other as we share our stories and pray for each other. 

Follow these steps to write your library team’s story. 

1. Start your stories by clicking on the tab Our Journeys.
2.  Click on Add Blog Post (Red Box Plus Sign) on right side above module.
3. Post the start of your story in the first page then thereafter, share what is happening with your ministry by using the comments. That way the rest of us can see all the pieces of your story as they happen.
4. And each time you add a comment, we will see that you are adding an experience to your story on the CLN main page’s left column -- Latest Activity. You can also choose to follow your post. You will get an email when someone writes a comment.

Yes, you can comment or ask a question on anyone’s story. 

Totally loved her book, Before We Were Yours. This book is just as informative in teaching me about the lives of slaves in the United States in 1875. I can't wait to add it to our collection! 

 The Book of Lost Friends

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You will find lots of articles here for your consideraton in light of your library. Here are a few actions to consider:

1. You can print any article by using the right click on your cursor then click print in the dropdown box.
2. You can write an article or add an article you have already written by clicking on Add Articles (Red Box Plus Sign) on right side above module. Your article will appear after the CLN team approves it. 
3. The articles are organized by categories. You will be asked to identify a category for your article when you post the article.

We call our blog posts The Circle because we think of ourselves sitting in a circle sharing ideas and experiences. This tab would be the place to share what you did during VBS or a book club or book recommendations.

1. Simply click on the tab The Circle
2. Then click on Add Blog Post (Red Box Plus Sign) on right side above module. Your article will appear after the CLN team approves it. 
3. Be sure to click on Allow Comments and allow everyone to view your post.
4. You can also click on Follow Comments so that you will be notified through email when someone writes a comment. 

When you click on Create Page, your post will be sent to the CLN Administrator to accept your post. That will be done as soon as possible.

Hello To CLN:
FYI, check out Masonboro Baptist Church (in Wilmington, NC) website, Facebook or YouTube to see our Children’s Ministries Director Tracy Brewer feature our Library & read a book virtually last week. I think she did it on Zoom but not sure.

Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgvYt-TINyo

If anyone is interested in the details, let me know & I will send her contact info.
In His service.
Joyce Lucas
Retired MBC Librarian

Before You Close "It": Consider Making Disciples

Did you take pictures of your Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, and other holiday displays? We would love to see your ideas!! Click here to post your pictures or you can post pictures in a comment.

On my journal of our transition we are making in my church with our Enrichment Center, I just posted about our launch of a Topic of the Month Strategy. Click here. 

Are you doing a Topic of the Month approach of some kind? If so, please share your approach and experiences.

Carolyn Walker shared how her church encourages people to read the Bible through each year. Click here to read her article. How about your church? How does your church's library support an emphasis on reading the Bible?

Fay Hudnall is leader of the Blue Valley church library which has two locations—their main campus and their Ridgeview campus. She asked me to post their story.

 After losing every item in our Ridgeview campus church library due to water line breaks across the hall and above the library, the Ridgeview campus library of Blue Valley Baptist Church is completely back to the pre-flood condition! Whew! As I reflect on the past 18 months, I see God’s hand and direction through good and bad times.

 The insurance company never questioned our claim. Praise God for all of Bill Jones’s Concourse training of at our library conferences! The insurance company couldn’t believe the information we had about our books! All of the same titles were ordered as we had before...except we had permission to get updated editions of any title we had previously owned. Purchasing the same titles was a condition of our insurance company. Our local LifeWay store ordered about 50 percent of our titles and gave us the sale price of their promotion at that time! We received 30 percent off all adult books—nonfiction, biographies, and fiction. Our receipt was 30-feet-long.

 Our insurance company even covered some the supplies we had used in processing the books. Labels, tape, jacket covers, book covering materials, and label protectors were purchased with insurance money.!

 Our library team had just lost one of our precious members to a stroke a few weeks before the flood. Another passed away after an extended battle with a rare cancer that attacked her heart. Two others are still fighting disease, and two more of our team moved out of state. However, their love for Jesus is outliving their lives each time one of the items they helped process is checked out from our two libraries! I think one of the best lessons our library team has learned is that work for Jesus is never lost . . . and continues even if we are no longer present.

 During the past months, we had six new workers in our library! None of them were asked to join our team—they volunteered! Each one of them are dedicated, talented individuals! God provided each one of them! Our team worked very diligently getting the Ridgeview campus library back to its former condition as well as keeping our Antioch campus library going.

 Eighteen months ago, a dark cloud was hanging over our libraries and library team. However, joy has returned to our hearts and laughter fills our libraries. God is good...all the time.

 Fay Hudnall

Let's start sharing what  we are doing through our library ministries with preschoolers and children. You are invited to join our new Children's Library group to share ideas and concerns. Click here.

For all of us, let's share what is happening here. Perhaps these ideas will prompt some of us to invite new team members to develop a library ministry with preschoolers and children.

Are you hosting a book club this summer for children?

Does your church have a separate location for a children's library that is near the children's area? 

Are you collaborating with the preschool and children's ministry leaders?

Back in January (2019) our pastor and staff started the process of assessing all the ministries of our church as to how each on aligns to the mission, vision, core values, and discipleship process of our church. They determined that our library ministry needed to move in the same direction our church family is going.

 On March 27^th, I officially became the library team leader with no team members. The first task was moving the collection to a new room being created by a building program. With the services of my Sunday School class, we prepared the collection for the move and made the move in four weeks. All of us have jobs and have daily commitments so most of our work was done on Wednesday evenings. The actual move itself had to be done in a few days so many of us readjusted our schedules in order to make it happen by the deadline. To God be the glory!

 Our next step was unloading the borrowed carts which made the logistics possible. That took three Wednesday evenings. Members of my Sunday School class plus a couple of others have continued to set up the space. Currently we are doing an inventory to confirm what items are on the shelves. We hope to finish the inventory during the next two Wednesday evenings.

 Layered on top of these actions, we are also working out a new direction for this library ministry. We are dramatically changing the purpose and mission of the collection and the actions of the ministry. Our focus is on making disciples. As we finalize our concept, I will share our two-page description with you. We are very excited about what God is doing in our midst! Hopefully, we will have our grand opening on August 11 when our new building opens.

 Grateful,

Morlee Maynard

Today, January 23, 2019, is Maxine's 100th birthday. You are invited to send your greetings to Maxine by doing so through your comments here. We love you, Maxine!

I was thrilled to get yesterday's edition of Daily Insights from Facts & Trends. The feature article is right on point about how our churches are dealing with domestic violence today.

Note that at the end of the article where the author asks the question: "How can ministry leaders help these women so they don't become another tragic statistic?" her third recommendation points to our church libraries to become resource centers for church leaders as well as the women dealing with domestic violence.

Click here to read the article: 5 Myths the Church Often Believes About Domestic Violence.

For those of you who are providing resources for people dealing with domestic violence, would you share what you are doing through a comment? 

THANKS!

Morlee Maynard

Do you have a subscription to Facts & Trends? I encourage you to get the new digital edition which replaced the print edition this Fall. Many libraries have had the print edition in their collections for years. Since that is no longer possible, I highly recommend library team members subscribe to this newsletter.

If you are unfamiliar with Facts & Trends, click here to visit past issues. In case you missed it, our church library article is on pages 44-45 in the Fall 2017 edition.

To subscribe, click here. 

Be sure to note on the subscription page that you will also receive book giveaways to subscribers and resource recommendations. 

Cheers!

Morlee Maynard

Just released by Brazio (Baker Books). I can't wait to use this book with a small group on Wednesdays at my church. I'm thinking it will be a perfect book for a small group study or book club sponsored by church libraries. Some of you have pastors and staff who discount the value of fiction for making disciples. Here's a book that is highly recommended to pastors and staff as well as the rest of us.

Have you discovered Lifeway.books?  Click here to find a book review on this book. Great source for book reviews.

Did you know LifeWay Stores matches prices with Amazon and other retailers? Just show them the price at the other retailer when you check out. 

Vicki is a member of the CLN. Check out the information she is providing about her books.

Click here to open the series. Click on each book cover to see Vicki's description of the book.

Thanks, Vicki!

Would you share your stories about VBS this year? How did your library participate? Any pictures? You can add pictures here or go to Photos. Let's share ideas as we get ready for next year!

Maxine Bersch, one of our long time members, just released a new book!! Check it out by clicking on the cover!! Congratulations, Mackie!!