How to check books out -- and back in

Trying to keep it simple, we're using a card system for checking out books in our lending library.

When you decide to check out a book, write your name and the date the book will be due back (3 weeks from the day you check it out). Put that card in the manilla Check-Out Cards envelope at the top, left-hand shelf on the book rack.

When you return the book, pull that card out of the envelope. Cross out your name and stick the card back into the pocket in the front of the book. Return the book to the book cart.

If you need more time, write the new date (again, 3 weeks from the date you are renewing it), and put the card back into the envelope.

Simple, straight-forward, honor system.

Remember our ministry goal, to equip everyone for the Kingdom life, and check out something that speaks to a need or a question in your life.

Remember that checking out a book is a Vote for the Book, to ward off weeding =)

And hurrah! New books were donated today! They are excellent resources, and something will have to go, to make room for them. Which books are YOU using?

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New books, including some re-prints and editions of classics

We have some great new resources that will be available this Sunday. Hope there's something that calls your name =)

Religious Affections: A Christian's character before God from the work by Jonathan Edwards, edited by Houston

The bondage of the will by Martin Luther, translated by J. I. Packer

A quest for Godliness by J. I. Packer, based on the Puritan vision of the Christian life

TwentySomeone by Craig Dunham and Doug Serven, about "finding yourself in a decade of transition"

Radical: Taking back your faith from the American Dream by David Platt

Covenant marriage by Gary Chapman (who wrote The five love languages)

A Godward life by John Piper, a devotional reader with 120 daily readings

... and about a dozen more!

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Voting with your reading

Limited space -- but keeping resources updated

Our wonderful lending library is stocked full of great reads and appealing resources. And we're filled almost to our limit! So how can we steward this ministry in a way that doesn't exceed our space but keeps our resources fresh and relevant?

All libraries keep resources fresh by "weeding," a graphic way to speak about culling the materials that

• aren't being checked out,
  
• are less appealing than others, and
  
• that just aren't what patrons seem to want.

For our unique situation (a fairly new library, but one limited to 64 linear feet of shelving), the weeding process will be driven by our need to add new resources.

For example, if there appears to be a need for, say, two or three particularly cogent new books, then we'll go back and consider the circulation record of the books we have, looking for two or three books that have not found any one who wants to read them.

This is where our church family VOTES for what we keep by what we check out. Titles checked out have gained at least one vote; titles that never circulate have none.

So please KEEP VOTING by reading and sharing good books. And KEEP REQUESTING new titles that will help our library stay fresh and relevant.

Remember: you can contribute to the conversation about our library through the "comment" button on the Blog site: http://trinity-pca-lib.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your continued input!

Lots of new books, a new searchable list

It is amazing to see the library resources we now have through Trinity's new lending library. Lots of new books have come in this week, and it's time to update the searchable "All our stuff" document.

If you would like to search for a particular author, title or area of reading, a .pdf document can be accessed by clicking here.

This list is organized by topic / subject according to the Dewey System. Fiction and Biography appear towards the end of the list.

Hope you find just what you're looking for!

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Growing the kinds of books available

Have you noticed? The kinds of books in our church library are expanding!

We have developed a wide range of non-fiction topics and this week, we are beginning to offer some of the best in Christian fiction.

And thanks to your input, comments and contributions, we hope to offer childrens' books soon. The goal for this ministry: Colossians 1:28, "that we may present everyone mature in Christ." Have you recently read something that glorified the Lord and made you grow a it? Come check us out.

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