How to Set Up a New Church Library With Fiction & Nonfiction

Church libraries come in all shapes and sizes.

Libraries come in many different forms. The church library is a teaching tool that is important for individual, class, congregation, and clerical study. It should stimulate and educate readers through a well-selected array of fiction and non-fiction literature, as well as act as an archive for the congregation. The following issues are key concepts that should be kept in mind as you embark on creating a church library.

Things You'll Need

• Library Advisory Council
• Library budget

Instructions

1. Conduct a needs assessment to determine the population you wish to serve. Some examples of target populations are: young children, beginning readers, parents, home schoolers, married couples, religious teachers, clergy, religious scholars, and senior citizens.

2. Determine what media format you wish to include in your collection. Do you wish to include only fiction and non-fiction books, or do you wish to include audio and visual material as well?

3. Set up an advisory council to determine how the books in your collection will be purchased, procured and approved. This is particularly important if the church is using a non-librarian (someone that does not hold a Master's Degree in Library Science) to set up and staff the library.

4. Develop a Collection Development Plan. The books a church library chooses to include in its collection will vary from one church to the next. Some churches have no fiction, other have plenty. Developing a clear and concise Collection Development plan is imperative when deciding how to develop a collection to meet the needs of your users.

5. Select non-fiction books for adults. These books should be both denomination-specific and should also include some information about world religions. Subjects with the adult non-fiction books are: spiritual formation, books about worship, marriage, ethics, parenting, outreach and education.

6. Choose current and classical juvenile, young adult and adult fiction that has religious and theological themes that highlight the belief system of the church. This will require staying current on what new books are being published.

7. Determine what reference books you wish to include in the collection. These books should be of the highest quality and should be focused on worship planning, sermon preparations and Sunday school programming. These books should be marked for "library use only" and should have limited circulation outside of the building (restricted to clergy, instructors, and staff only).

8. Choose a classification system to arrange and classify your books. The most common systems used in the United States are the Library of Congress system and the Dewey Decimal system.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have the budget to do so, hire a librarian. Librarians have Master's Degrees in Library Science and are trained professionals in developing, implementing, and managing libraries of all sizes and genres.

References

• National Church Library Association
• American Library Association