New Year's Resolutions

If you’ve been following my tweets you’ll know that I’ve had a countdown to December 31 highlighting my top five new year's resolutions. Now, a new year's resolution can be a wonderful thing. There is potential for fresh beginnings and developing new (good) habits. Notice that I said potential. Making a resolution is all well and good but sticking to it is something else altogether. Apparently 8% of those who actually make a NYR are able to keep it! Last year I resolved to stop smoking. Fortunately for me, I’ve ever smoked a day in my life. This year I’m taking it up a notch. Actually, five notches. In 2013 I’m hoping to see through a number of changes in the church library. 

#5 Move the new bookcase into the church library
We’re mega short on space. This is more of a required necessity than an ideal objective.

#4 Boost collection development of fiction for guys
I’ve been working towards improving this section of our church library. I have made great strides in this area but I still seem to have an enormous ratio of romance to mystery novels. 

#3 WEEDING 
Admittedly a continuous work in progress.

#2 Update/Improve the nonfiction section
About four years ago I removed over eight full boxes of books from the nonfiction section in the attempt to keep the materials’ year of publication hovering around 1990. Although it’s a lesser used section than the fiction (by a long shot) it would still be nice to have items available that were published during this century. Time for another purge!

#1 New volunteers!  
The wonderful people I have helping me in the church library have been faithfully showing up every third Sunday for as long as I’ve been there. It’s definitely time to get some new faces in the mix! This resolution is one that I’m going to really focus on this year and do the research to ensure success. 

Here’s hoping I’m in that 8% for 100% of my resolutions! 
Have a safe and happy New Year!

Advice From The Trenches

As the older (and wiser) generation of librarian folk retire and the youngsters take over, many will find themselves in the same position I’m in.

So what can one do to ensure that they are meeting the needs of the congregation in the church library?

An article from christianity.ca offers excellent anecdotes and advice on how to accomplish this. Some of the highlights include:

Weed Ruthlessly

Having an outdated and patched up collection won’t draw crowds. Regardless of the old saying, “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” the fact is that your patrons will. Colourful books in good condition will always capture a person’s eye.

Know your congregation

What kind of demographic are you dealing with? Seniors? Young families? Make sure that your collection reflects it. Furthermore, stay in tune to what’s going on in smaller parts of church life. What are the small groups studying? What is the theme of the Women’s Coffee break group this year? Make sure that your collection matches their needs.

Don’t let them forget

Make your presence known in the church. Create displays aligning to certain seasons or holidays. Put a weekly excerpt of a book review in the bulletin. Make yourself known!

Ask for help

Don’t take on the full responsibility yourself. Ask for volunteers to help out in the library, whether if its to be present before or after the service or to assist with administration duties such as collection development or re-shelving. The church holds many members with various talents so remember to reach out!

You can read the full-length article yourself at: http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=6297