
Shelf Notes
August, 2023
Support and Encouragement
First of all, you need local, in-person supporters and encouragers in this task of offering a lending library to your community. To get those people on board with your library plan, you're going to have to tell people what you are being led to do with your library. If no one is coming alongside you at first, pray that God will send you people to encourage you and advise you and support your library. And be sensitive to discern those people who are interested in your library project and want to help.
However, you may want to collaborate with other librarians who are working on a lending library, too. Again, in-person is great if you can find it. Check the Private Lending Library Directory at Biblioguides for a librarian near you or one whose library you can visit while on vacation. Touring another private lending library will give you so many good ideas, and it will be an encouragement to the librarian you visit. Make an appointment, and visit another private lending library if you can.
Email and social media are other options for connecting with other librarians. The League of Lending Librarians Facebook page is a great place for meeting other librarians online and for asking questions about specific concerns you come across in opening and maintaining your library. If you're not a Facebook user, there is a Homeschool library email group that you can subscribe to at groups.io. This group sends out one or two email messages a day, and you can opt for a daily summary or a twelve message digest if you prefer to receive less email.
Finally you can join us in The Card Catalog discussion space inside the free Biblioguides Online Community at Mighty Networks. The Biblioguides Community has graciously agreed to host this discussion space for anyone and everyone who has or hopes to have a lending library. We chose to host this space on Mighty Networks instead of something like Facebook because we know that so many of us are trying to limit our social media time. Mighty Networks is a great option because unlike Facebook or Instagram, it is a closed community that is totally focused. By joining there, the only things that you will see are things related to that community. You do not have to be a Biblioguides database member to be a part of this online community! This group is not meant to replace or compete with any other awesome group out there. It is meant to offer an additional option for all of those librarians who are not on Facebook.
Plumfield Moms: Authors Librarians Love
Meet the Librarian
Elizabeth Cunningham, Living Literature Favorites Library, Dallas, Texas: "Several years ago, mom and I had a few conversations about starting a library. She had a wealth of knowledge about the best children’s literature, and I had a dearth of books. Mom and I never got very far on our pie-in-the-sky idea. She did bring me a load of books from Half Price Books to start our library, but beyond that, we didn’t really know how to start or how to proceed once we started. Where would the library be, when would it be open, what books should we focus on? How would it even work? All these questions had no clear answer and the library idea just never went anywhere."
Mary Schubert, Pursell Schubert Legacy Library, Oklahoma City, OK: "So, how did my lending library start? It was because of a conversation that I had with Jan Bloom, from BooksBloom at our homeschool convention, May 2012. She and I were talking about some of the books that she had for sale, which my father also had on his shelves at home. She said, “Mary, you should start a lending library!”
Would you like to tell your library story at The Card Catalog? We would be honored to share the story of your library journey on our website. Please take some time to answer some questions for us, and we will be happy to work with you to publish your story: Library Story Submission Form.
Librarian Podcast Feature
Biblioguides Corner
Did you know that Biblioguides members receive special discounts for shopping with some of our favorite small publishers? Biblioguides members can now receive a 10% discount when shopping at Bethlehem Books. We also offer 10% discounts to Purple House Press and Living Book Press.
Go to Your Benefits in Your Account to access the discount codes.
Important reminders:
- discounts are only available to members so please do not share with non-members
- discounts may not apply to already discounted items or during sales
News
Ensor's Books (Librarian Julie Ensor) is a private lending library for homeschool families in middle TN. The library's initial open house was held on Saturday, August 5th, and the response was encouraging.
Cornerstone Living Library (Librarian Ashley Borrego) is a ministry of Cornerstone Bible Church in Lilburn, Georgia, and the library's Grand Opening is scheduled for Sunday, August 27th at 6:30 P.M.
Plumfield Children's Library (Librarian Season Bos), a subset of Plumfield Children's Bookstore, is a private lending library located in Youngsville, North Carolina. The library is opening in August 2023 for porch pickup.
If your library has a firm opening date, please let us know so that we can share that with our newsletter subscribers.
Connections
Email: sherry.pray4you@gmail.com
Website: https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/the-card-catalog/
Facebook: facebook.com/librarianscardcatalog/