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1Beckysbooknook
Nov. 25, 2014, 10:00 am

Curious if most of the the church libraries offer fiction other than christian fiction. I have been giving a lot of fiction books some Authors I am not familiar with so I didn't enter them. Some I have such as John Grisham, Debbie Macomber. I am putting a disclaimer sticker on the inside of the fiction books that if someone finds these books inappropriate to let us know so they can be removed from the Library. I am wondering what other church Libraries are doing. I certainly don't want anything in our Library that isn't appropriate.. Thanks

2rolandperkins
Bearbeitet: Nov. 25, 2014, 6:08 pm

Ours*, the Patten Library, does. It was set up
as primarily a secular, "reading-for pleasure" collection, (but does have religious books, Protestant, Catholic, and a scattering of
non-Christian religions) by Pat Patterson an old friend of
ours, but not a very long-term member of the congregation, who has since taken up residence in California. Many of the "charter member" type of books in the collection were
from Gerry Patten, after whom the collection is named. The religious items are mainly books that were donated by me; but I don;t have any official connection with the Library.

*Maluhia Lutheran,
Waiʻanae, HI


3greenvillian
Nov. 27, 2014, 8:48 pm

Adult fiction collection is only a small part of our congregation's collection, and relatively few titles are in the "Christian fiction" genre. Titles are acquired based on the following description from our Materials Selection Policy:

"Fiction which grapples with challenging moral, ethical, and religious issues will be sought for the collection. Emphasis will be placed on works from the 'crossover' religious/general fiction marketplace which most effectively portray thoughtful and ethical responses to life experiences. While materials specifically labeled as 'Christian fiction' may be added, they will be more carefully evaluated for theological perspective than works which do not carry this label."

Many of the fiction titles are ones which have been reviewed in one of the journals to which the library subscribes, or on selected websites. Some reflect current life or relatively recent history of countries where our congregation supports mission programs. Some have been recommended by members of the congregation's Theology Reading Group, where the books have been discussed. Others have been selected from among the titles studied by reading groups in similar congregations or recommended for denominational reading programs.

Is there an existing mission statement and/or materials selection policy for your library? Both are really needed to help determine what is suitable for your collection. Now would probably be a good time to start drafting both--or to relook at existing policies to see if they need updating. You want policies which are neither so broad that they give no guidance, nor so detailed that they are either ignored or else give you insufficient leeway for making decisions. Policies won't answer all your questions, but they can certainly help provide guidance--and backup when someone does challenge a decision.

You mention that you're putting disclaimer stickers in some of the books. Why in some books and not in all? It's likely that someone in your congregation may disagree with ANY specific title that is added. One academic library with which I'm familiar adds disclaimer stickers to every book--NOT a practice I would recommend, but better than putting disclaimers in some and not in others.

4Beckysbooknook
Nov. 27, 2014, 10:16 pm

Thanks for your input. Most helpful