(NOTE: This article is excerpted from the current issue of our bi-monthly magazine, Congregational Libraries Today.)
Novices as well as experienced librarians who are new to the congregational setting will benefit greatly from the superb pre-conference school that is planned for Saturday, July 19, just prior to the opening of CSLA’s annual conference in Greenville, South Carolina.
Sessions for the pre-conference school will be held at Foothills Presbytery Resource Center. Three of CSLA’s own eminent librarians - Alrene Hall, Jane Hope, and Kim Berger - will share their considerable expertise.
In Greenville this summer, beginning congregational librarians can attend three great pre-conference classes.
Alrene and Jane have used their experience as retired school media specialists to build a Texas-sized library at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston. Together they are a power duo, as attendees of past conventions will testify.
Kim is a professional librarian whose working experiences have been varied: she has been a librarian in a junior high school, in an insurance company, and in the Law Library at Washington University in St. Louis. Currently she manages the library at the United Methodist Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
The first class session will focus on what a person needs to know about starting a church or synagogue library, including prayerful consideration, the support of church or synagogue leadership, helpers to formulate general plans, and space requirements. Alrene and Jane will serve as instructors for this first class session.
The second session, taught by Kim, will focus on what a person should know about cataloging in a congregational library. The class will look at Dewey fundamentals and the need for consistency.
The third session, with Alrene and Jane again serving as instructors, will focus on what a congregational librarian needs to know about budgets: the importance of budgets, the preparation of a library budget, and how to present the budget to the congregation's finance committee.
Anyone wanting to participate in the pre-conference school will need to indicate that choice on the registration form found on page 16 of this issue of Congregational Libraries Today. [Click here to download Registration Form.] The cost for this fast-track preconference school is just $25. Lunch is included.