The Ohio Independent Baptist, July 1965

e urc For n, a r, y years the ide a o f a church library was only a d ream. Now it is a re ality at Niles , Ohio By Mrs. Harlan Brainard, Librarian F<.)r <1 nt1n1ber of )ear, the po ihility of a cht1rch l1hrar) \\ a bt1t a drean1 in the mind of many of OL1r people at Ftr t Bc1pt1 t htrrch. iJe· , Ohio. Then one tia). the Tra1n1ng nion decided to do omething abot1t 1t and a librar, committee wa formed. A member of the .. li brar\ con1mittee wa cho en a librarian, with aL1thori- za t1on to elect an a ·, i tant and three helper . The li– hrar\ c mn11ttee pre ented their plan to the Board - of Deacon and Tru tee and received approval and perm1 1 n to pro:eed . ' e t, a reading committee, con1- po ed of eight qualified men1ber of the church wa appointed and announcement of the propo ed church librar\' \\ a made in the bulletin with a reque t for ~ book donation . Bibicall)' · ot1nd commentarie biogra- ph1e . de"·otional . Chri tian fiction, Bible dictionary, n1i ionar) book and teaching aid were Ji ted a ba·, ic hook requirement v..ith the tinder tanding that all book. \\ ere ubject to the approval of the reading committee. The r1 tollov.. ed a period of prayerful and patient . . \ a, ting. A .; uitable room for the library had to be a igned and thi v..a accompli hed only after combining two Ju ni or h igh girl cla . e . Book were low in coming and reque t for donation· were made repeatedly. The fir t book: a e \\. a donated by a member of the Tru tee· .. and o ther furni hing and equipment were partially do– nated b 1 the library committee and church member . The e included a tiny-tot bookca·..e, clock, bookend , a child" table and chair et. flanneJgraph rack and de k table. \.\'hen 200 book ~ ere received, we con ulted with the local lrbrar} and et up a y tern of helving and circula tion ... imilar to that u ed generally in ptiblic li – brar ie . E\ erv book received i Ii ted in a Book Receivable J Re:ord v.. ith the donor· name~ book title and name of reading comm ittee member . If the book i rejected it i re turned to the donor. If accepted it i cataloged with a Book i'umber Regi ter. cla ·3ified and equipped with a pocke t. pocket card and date due card. The in ide of the front page i tamped ' ·Fir t Bapti t Church Li – brar~,·· and a plate bearing the donor' name i placed under nea th th i ·:)tamp. The borrower al o ha a number a igned from the BorrO\\'er' <; Regi ter and a corre ponuing JULY 1965 PAGE 6 Pr:. tty Hussey lleft ) assis tant libra r ian , a nd Marl ee Baker (right) a t the " Teen T o p1cs" ta bl e. hi tory card reflecting name, addre and telephone nt1n1- her i n1ade LI p a nci pl aced in alphabetical file for f Lt lure reference. Later, we hope to , .. tart a file on author· names. Book are removable only through Librarian anc.1 are loaned on a 10-day ba i unle otherwi e arranged. A fine of 2c per day i. ,:harged for overdue book . Ver)' recently, a book depo it bin was placed ou&ide the library door for the convenience of reader returning book due on day the library is clo ed and thi ha cut down 50% of overc.lue book . The hour·.. the library i open for bu ine i po ted on the library door and j timed to ~oin ide with the church activity chedule. Fina11y, almo·~t a year after the fir t announcement. open hou. e for viewing the library wa held and the dream of a church library became a reality! Over 300 book have been received and cataloged. Four Sunday S,~hool cla e have contributed a total of 55 for the purcha e of new book ince the library officially o,pened ov. 12, 1964. We are pre ently for– mL1lating a magazine and college catalog ~ection and plan to add map a world globe, vi ual aid material and other helpful reference . Already we have started a "Teen- Dia nne Borden (left) and Rob in Wigton (right) at the Children 's book rack THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST