Public libraries save readers lots of money, but what are you able to do in case your reading interests are more specific than those of most people? Many community organizations, historical societies, and places of worship offer their members small libraries of specialised materials. If your organization doesn’t have a lending library, consider starting your individual. Here’s how.
How to start out a lending library
You already share interests along with your fellow divers or philatelists; Why don’t you share your books? Bed and breakfast owners may additionally consider offering guests a small number of reading material to enjoy during their stay. Building a library is not as expensive or time-consuming because it sounds. Special library supplies will be replaced with abnormal office supplies, and a small collection doesn’t require an elaborate cataloging system.
First, ask members of your organization to donate books and other media related to your topic of interest. You may receive some items which can be outdated or in poor condition, but you may even most probably receive generous donations. You can even ask for monetary donations to buy recent materials; If so, ask the group for recommendations for the very best books and videos on the subject.
Once you may have enough materials to start out a library, resolve how you should organize them, how you should let people know concerning the materials available, and the way you should manage circulation. You may additionally consider promoting the library by writing reviews of things available for checkout within the organization’s newsletter.
Organizing the books
This will be so simple as sorting alphabetically by creator or as complex as using the Library of Congress cataloging system. When I put together the library for our church, I organized the fiction books alphabetically and used them Dewey decimal system for non-fiction, so people can find books on similar topics side by side. (I searched the general public library catalog for a similar or similar books to search out the corresponding Dewey Decimal.) You can group materials on the shelves by topic and type them alphabetically throughout the topic.
Cataloging
A library with greater than 100 items must have a catalog to tell people about what the library owns. Advanced cataloging software is accessible. If you may have a volunteer with computer skills, you possibly can adapt an abnormal library catalog database. There is at all times the low-tech way: For our church library, we use index cards for a card catalog and put the cards in a box.
Each database entry or catalog card should contain not less than the title, creator, and site of the item on the shelf. I might also include the publication date, publisher name, series and themes. The Library of Congress has a listing of formal subject headings utilized by public and academic libraries. However, you can too create a set of tags that higher suit the members of your organization. (For example, books on end-time theology use the word “eschatology” within the formal subject line, but few members of our congregation have formal theological training, so our catalog cards say “end-time.”) I like to recommend getting one Keep a listing of keywords in order that the terminology is consistent throughout the catalog.
People can seek for a book by title, creator, topic, or series. Therefore, be sure that any computerized database in these areas is searchable. If you’re using index cards for the catalog, create a separate card for every index card and organize all of them alphabetically.
Keep track of the books
To manage circulation (keep track of what is being borrowed), you possibly can either set opening hours and use library volunteers, or design a self-checkout system that enables people to access the library at any time. If you select the latter, it’s unlikely that you’re going to have the ability to incur fines. However, it’s best to still set and publish guidelines for the way long readers can borrow items in order that nobody has to attend too long for a well-liked book or DVD. If you choose to make use of a self-checkout system, you may additionally consider holding orientation sessions (especially if the library is recent) to point out people what is accessible and the way they’ll test it out.
Preparing the books
Using items from an office supply store, you possibly can prepare materials so as to add to the library relatively inexpensively. To open our church library, I used mailing labels, envelopes, index cards, gum glue, and make contact with paper. I printed out labels with the church name to position on the front cover and labels with the book’s shelf location (Dewey decimal or the primary three letters of the creator’s name) to position on the spine. For hardcover books, CDs, videos, and DVDs, I covered the spine label with contact paper; For paperbacks, I covered the whole spine and vertical cover edges with contact paper (to cut back the damage and tear that comes from reading multiple times).
I then took a small envelope, cut off the highest half of the quilt’s flap, and sealed the underside half to make a card envelope, which I adhered to the back of the book with rubber glue. I wrote the title of the book on an index card with columns for people to write down their names, phone numbers, and due dates, and put the cardboard within the envelope pocket. (Note: If your library is open to the general public, check applicable privacy laws before using cards with personal information.) Library patrons can remove this card and place it in a second box to point that the book has been checked out.
Maintaining your lending library
If you expect your library to grow beyond its original collection, it’s best to also consider the way you will handle donations and/or the budget for purchasing recent books, and the way you’ll hold library patrons accountable in the event that they don’t return an item. (Do you expect them to pay to interchange it with an analogous item, ask them to donate an analogous item, or just tell them to maintain it and revel in it?) Also consider: What you’ll do if the library gets too big: Will you do away with old books or find more space for storing?
Every lending library has different needs, and each librarian or library board (which could just be you) has other ways to satisfy those needs. No matter what decisions you make about operating your organization’s library, you will find that with somewhat work and a small budget, a worthwhile resource will be created for everybody in your organization. As a bonus, you (the librarian) are sometimes the primary to read interesting books donated to the cause!
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