Ideas for Church Library

I like Lisa Terkeurst’s books.  It seems like Christian fiction for women was most often checked out in our previous church’s library.  They had tons of Amish fiction and it was often checked out.

For kids, I think some classics like The Bronze Bow or Narnia would be good choices.  There are so few good Christian books in our public libraries!  The True Story of Noah’s Ark or Life in the Great Ice Age would be good as well.  Paul Maier has some nice picture books called The First Christmas, The First Easter, The First Christians.

The problem I see with Church libraries is how few people take advantage of them!  My DC and some of the older ladies were the only ones I ever saw checking out books.  🙁  That could be partly because the materials were so dated…They never added new children’s books and most of their videos were still VHS.  Our church did make an announcement in the bulletins whenever they added new books and I thought that was a good idea.

For adults: Changes That Heal by Dr. Henry Cloud.  I have lots of books and when I have fleeting thoughts of giving them all away (you book lovers know how it is!) that is one I want to hold onto.  For a church, I think it is especially important to have/grow into healthy relationships, and this book really helped me deal with some issues I had from my past and grow.  I actually went to a regular family doctor several years ago because I couldn’t figure out what was wrong – I felt depressed and thought maybe I needed a blood test, that my iron was low.  Well, the doc actually prescribed me this book!  Can you imagine that?  8 years later and my husband is now reading it, and realizing many things about himself.  He’s always had trust issues with God and reading the Bible, but this is helping him make sense of things and really directing him towards God.  I probably sound like this is a cure-all book or something, but I enjoy lots of books.  This is just one that would be at the top of my list if I was in charge of a church library.

How big is your church?  There are so many books I would add to a library if I had the funds!  For children, the Child’s Story Bible by Vos and The Jesus Storybook Bible by Lloyd-Jones are both well-loved around here.  And the Christian Liberty Nature readers are good for science and animal lovers.

Our church library has the usual assortment of meaty fiction and fluffy fiction; the usual assortment of “mom” books; and some older children’s books.  I esp. like the older children’s books because they are not available at our town library.

Also, our library has good Christian family movies (as well as some that are just for mom and dad or older teens) —  we really appreciate those because we don’t have cable or Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime or any of those kinds of services.  So being able to borrow the occasional movie to watch as a family is just fun (and cheaper than buying!).

Here’s some suggestions for kids:

Sammy and His Shepherd, Susan Hunt

Long Story Short, Marty Machowski

Old Story New, Marty Machowski

The Gospel Story Bible, Marty Machowski

The Big Picture Story Bible, David Helm

The Child’s Story Bible, Catherine Vos

The Donkey Who Carried a King, RC Sproul

The Prince’s Poison Cup, RC Sproul

The Priest With Dirty Clothes, RC Sproul

The King Without a Shadow, RC Sproul

Children’s Stories, DL Moody

Big Thoughts for Little People, Kenneth Taylor

Lightlings, RC Sproul

God’s Word (Making Him Known), Sally Michael

Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress, Oliver Hunkin

I would add How to Study the Bible by Richard Mayhue. I’ve tried to share this list all morning and I am having trouble, but I wanted to include this book as well.

Another suggestion…Are you a member of Library and Ed?  They have very inexpensive books and cater to churches, libraries, schools, and homeschoolers.   I’ve ordered lots of books and DVDs from them.  They also have audio CDs.