GUIDELINES FOR THE LIBRARY BOARD OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
I.PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH LIBRARY
As with most public services, the continued usefulness
ofthe Church Library is determined by its purposes.
Tbere are two primary purposes of the library:
1.The obtaining, protection and care of books that
are considered valuable to the Church.
2. Making of the books available to those who want
or need to use them.
II
A.
B.
C.
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THE CHURCH LIBRARY
For practical reasons the primary use of the library
will be for research:
1.The present library is made up mostly of non-
fiction, religious, historical and reference
type books which are appropriate for research.
2.Because of limited services available at this
time. The books should not be checked out, but
they should be used only in the library room
which limits the amount of time a book can be
used. An exception would be for the librarian
to give permission for copies to be made from a
book on the Church's copy machine, which would
mean that a book would be taken from the library
room temporarily.
Because of crowded conditions in the old church build-
ing, the library was not readily available for regular
perusing. The present library room makes it possible
to select and read the books without interference of
other activities. This is a big step forward in
making the library usable.
The Library Board should agree upon certain times and
arrangements for the regular use of the library:
1.A member of the Library Board and/or a responsi-
ble individual of their choice should be present
and in charge when the library is open for use.
2.The library should be made available by appoint-
ment or at announced times, i.e., Saturday morn-
ing, Sunday afternoon or certain week nights.
3.A printed list of the books should be made avail-
able for use as well as the computer. The use
of the computer should be supervised by the one
in charge.
4.All cabinets containing books should be kept
locked when the library is not in use .
III. ADDING TO THE CHURCH LIBRARY
A.The present library is made up mostly of donated books.
Borne of these books may be considered collectors' items.
We are not so interested in the monetary value of the
books as much as to their historical and factual
values for research and perusing.
B.The expansion of the library with appropriate and use-
ful literature should be of special interest to the
members of the Library Board on an ongoing basis.
There may be some church members and non-members who
have books that they would like to donate to the
library. The Library Board should solicit appropriate
books through the Zion's Advocate and other means and
make themselves available to meet with the donors to
receive their books.
C.Books on the subject of the "Restoration", as classi-
fied as Restoration Doctrine, Restoration History,
biographies, etc., should be considered a priority in
adding to the library. Books on this subject are not
as readily available in public libraries as books on
other subjects.
D.Books on Native Americans (North, Central and South
America) and books on the Jews would be of special
interest to the church to aid in our missionary efforts.
E.Books on religions, religious history and various
theologies would be another priority:
1.Christian religions: Catholic and Protestant
2.Christian theology
3.Bible commentaries and references
4.Judaism
5.Islam religions
6.The New Age Movement (expose)
7.Communism (expose)
8.Atheism
F.All books on geography and history that are reliable
would be considered valuable and useful:
1.World history
2.Geography and travel
3.Ancient history
4.European history
5.Asian history
6.African history
7.American history
G.Books on language could be useful but not necessarily
a priority. Books on English writing and grammar and
books on translations from English into Spanish, Ger-
man, French, etc. would be useful.
H.Books of general use such as dictionaries, thesauruses,
encyclopedia, library needs, computer science, etc.,
if not donated, should be considered as items for
purchase as their needs become evident.
I.Some books on philosophy, psychology, social sciences,
natural science, mathematics, technology and the arts
might be useful on occasion, but in the consideration
that public libraries have a greater selection avail-
able it would not be wise to fill up our library space
with an over abundance of such books.
J.Rare books, manuscripts and old periodicals are valu-
able for research. If donated, special care should
be given and treatment for their preservation should
be considered.
K.Books that would not be appropriate for the Church
Library would be novels and books classified for light
reading and entertainment. Although there might be
some books based on scriptural and historical happen-
ings that would be acceptable, careful screening should
be made of all books of fiction.
IV.
CARE OF
A.The
and
1.
2.
3.
THE CHURCH LIBRARY
maximum use of the library depends upon the care
order of the library:
The Library Board should establish rules that
will keep the books safe and protected from loss
and unnecessary wear and damage. Such rules
should be written and posted in a prominent
place.
Removal and replacement of literature from the
shelves should be done by a person in charge of
the library.
Old and rare books should receive extra care.
a.The Library Board in conjunction with the
General Bishopric should consider having
the old and rare books treated for preser-
vation by those qualified to do so.
b.Perusal of such literature should have con-
stant surveillance by a person in charge of
the library. There are persons outside the
church who have been known to walk off with
valuable books from various libraries for
the purpose of selling them for their own
gain. The Library Board should not be
hesitant in guarding against such individ-
uals even if suspicious persons must be
banned from the library.
B.The Library Board should know the whereabouts of all
books of which they are in charge whether kept in the
library room, the vault, the bank vault or in storage.
1.A regular check should be made from the listing
to determine if any books are missing and if any
obvious theft has occurred. If so greater
security of the books should be made accordingly.
2.All books and literature should be periodically
checked for possible damage or deterioration.
A yearly report to the April Ministers' Conference should
be made by the Library Board as to the library's usage
during the previous yea~ and additions to the library with
any cost of acquisitions. A budget request should be
prepared and submitted to the Council of Apostles and the
General Bishopric if a substantial amount of funds are
anticipated to be needed.