How to fix your parish library

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Mimi said:
Hee hee; “use them for a family marshmallow roast”! 👍 Actually, that is my intention, but I think it is only fair to bring it to our pastor’s attention that these are being submitted. I hope he lets me do with them what I intend. We do have a fireplace…

Mimi
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Yes, of course, I’m assuming that the pastor will have already screened the books or approved norms for evaluating book donations (and appropriate means of disposal)!

I wasn’t sure what our pastor would say to many of these books, since a lot of the catechesis at our parish is “iffy,” so I did research on each book or author, documented what was objectionable (including affiliation with Call To Action and groups like it, quotes from the works themselves showing teaching that conflicts with the Church, or Notifications from the Vatican on the works of an author), and took the documentation in with me to meet with Father.

His first reaction was to sort of underplay the offenses, saying that the theologians were simply “speculating,” but since I had done my research, I was able to explain that many were also affiliated with dissenting groups who were actively fighting the Magisterium. I also discussed with him the difference between a research library, where these works might be useful, and a parish library, which parishoners would use with the assumption that the books are approved by the pastor for their edification. And we discussed the fact that forwarding the books to a used book store may also be the wrong choice, since we want non-Catholics as well as Catholics to receive correct information about the Church. By the end of the conversation, he agreed that none of the books I had brought in (a whole box) ought to be in the parish library. I left them (and my documentation) with him, so he can dispose of them however he wants. But now at least I have a “no” list to base future decisions on.

I’m coming to see that as lay people, while we must always show respect to our priests, when we know of an evil like this which can damage peoples’ faith, it is our duty to speak out clearly and persistently. If it is done in love, it will often go over well. If it doesn’t go over well, and we have evaluated our motives and method, then we may need to go to the next level of authority.
 
RosaMystica said:
Yes, of course, I’m assuming that the pastor will have already screened the books or approved norms for evaluating book donations (and appropriate means of disposal)!

I wasn’t sure what our pastor would say to many of these books, since a lot of the catechesis at our parish is “iffy,” so I did research on each book or author, documented what was objectionable (including affiliation with Call To Action and groups like it, quotes from the works themselves showing teaching that conflicts with the Church, or Notifications from the Vatican on the works of an author), and took the documentation in with me to meet with Father.

His first reaction was to sort of underplay the offenses, saying that the theologians were simply “speculating,” but since I had done my research, I was able to explain that many were also affiliated with dissenting groups who were actively fighting the Magisterium. I also discussed with him the difference between a research library, where these works might be useful, and a parish library, which parishoners would use with the assumption that the books are approved by the pastor for their edification. And we discussed the fact that forwarding the books to a used book store may also be the wrong choice, since we want non-Catholics as well as Catholics to receive correct information about the Church. By the end of the conversation, he agreed that none of the books I had brought in (a whole box) ought to be in the parish library. I left them (and my documentation) with him, so he can dispose of them however he wants. But now at least I have a “no” list to base future decisions on.

I’m coming to see that as lay people, while we must always show respect to our priests, when we know of an evil like this which can damage peoples’ faith, it is our duty to speak out clearly and persistently. If it is done in love, it will often go over well. If it doesn’t go over well, and we have evaluated our motives and method, then we may need to go to the next level of authority.
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Way to go! Sounds like you handled the situation well.
 
JSSebastianoP said:
Do you know any good online resources for learning how to catalogue books? Or something…
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If you google “Dewey Decimal System” some really good links on Library Arts pop up. You can practically teach yourself for free on-line, how to be a librarian. (No degree, though.) 👍
 
Joe_5859 said:
There’s some online book cataloguing places:
My parish has their library on LibraryThing. It makes it easy to see what they have.

I’m not sure if this answers your question or not. :o
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Thanks very much - they’re great! 👍
jmcrae said:
If you google “Dewey Decimal System” some really good links on Library Arts pop up. You can practically teach yourself for free on-line, how to be a librarian. (No degree, though.) 👍
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You see, I was interested because I am going to be working part-time at a library and I’m really into books and I have my own collection. When I’m older (I’m still a high-school student) I’d love to help my parish to build a library! So, while I don’t necessarily see myself becoming a librarian, I’ve always been interested in libraries and how they’re run.

Thanks to both of you. 😃

Pax.
 
JSSebastianoP said:
Do you know any good online resources for learning how to catalogue books? Or something…

If you have any extra space (or even if someone is willing to take them into his home), you could put them in “storage” until you are able to decide. Storage is also good for another reason. If someone wants it, he has to ask for it, so it gives a chance to warn about potential heretical nature of the book.

Pax,

Sebastiano
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i’m sorry, I don’t have any online resources for how to catalogue books. I suggest you talk to a librarian. The lady that is the chair of our committee is a librarian and she taught us what to do. My knowledge of library science is almost nil.
 
RosaMysitca,

Your last post is very helpful; I will try to proceed carefully, have my research ready, and go in prepared when I take the withdrawn books in. Currently they are in my house.

Sebastiano:
If you have any extra space (or even if someone is willing to take them into his home), you could put them in “storage” until you are able to decide. Storage is also good for another reason. If someone wants it, he has to ask for it, so it gives a chance to warn about potential heretical nature of the book.
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(Don’t know if I already reported on this…) We weeded many books simply bc they had nothing to do with Catholicism. They were left out, but not shelved, and a notice was put in the bulletin that they would be available for retrieval for one month. All the books left were taken to 2nd hand stores. None of the heretical type stuff was retrieved, though.

Thank you and God bless,
Mimi
 
Mimi,

What do you do about Protestant devotional type materials? Like books on prayer, christian living, family, etc.? I go back and forth on whether these books should be in a Catholic parish library, since for the most part they aren’t harmful, but they’re not Catholic, and may have some error in them. Plus, often space is limited. Were they among the books you sent off to the used bookstores?
 
RosaMystica said:
Mimi,

What do you do about Protestant devotional type materials? Like books on prayer, christian living, family, etc.? I go back and forth on whether these books should be in a Catholic parish library, since for the most part they aren’t harmful, but they’re not Catholic, and may have some error in them. Plus, often space is limited. Were they among the books you sent off to the used bookstores?
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I can’t recall having too many of those; if we had them we probably weeded them out. Those went to the Salvation Army store. Many were also discarded bc they were just old & falling apart.

I would like to stick to shelving only Catholic materials. That way there is no confusion. If your donation policy is clear, then no feelings should get hurt, but that may happen anyway.🤷

I have a tape set; early Scott Hahn. I started listening to it, and at the end of the 1st cassette, the tape speeds up & slows down, so had to lose that one, unfortunately. I do like having talks on CD, though. I ordered a lot of DVD cases in bulk & design simple labels for each one with the computer. Nothing fancy. I have to literally cut out and paste a title for the spine, though. Sometimes I’ll cut part of a jacket/holder apart & use that since it’s descriptive and more attractive. We have a nice collection started of those now. Many are on pro-life which some parishioners brought back from The March for Life in DC - they were FREE. And many are available from St. Joseph Communications saintjoe.com/departments.asp?dept=47 Not many borrowers of those, though (yet).

I know some people who commute one-half to an hr to work every day. I would hope they might get in the habit of doing more learning about the faith by checking out FREE CD’s. I have learned quite a lot myself since I listen to each one to get the length to put on the label. One problem is that some do not come with tracks, so if you have to stop in the middle, it’s hard to find the place you stopped.

I put a plastic holder for pamphlets & holy cards and put a FREE label on it. I sometimes find holy cards used as bookmarks in donated books.

Happy Feast of the Queenship of Mary,
Mimi
 
RosaMystica said:
Mimi,

What do you do about Protestant devotional type materials? Like books on prayer, christian living, family, etc.? I go back and forth on whether these books should be in a Catholic parish library, since for the most part they aren’t harmful, but they’re not Catholic, and may have some error in them. Plus, often space is limited. Were they among the books you sent off to the used bookstores?
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let the heretical material be purified by fire.
 
I need help on how to catalog periodicals. I’m thinking of donating my back-issues of “This Rock” and “First Things,” but I don’t know how to enter them. Has anyone done this? Also, should I require that they remain in the library or let them be checked out like a book?
 
RosaMystica said:
I need help on how to catalog periodicals. I’m thinking of donating my back-issues of “This Rock” and “First Things,” but I don’t know how to enter them. Has anyone done this? Also, should I require that they remain in the library or let them be checked out like a book?
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Periodicals are usually entered by title, month, and day. What software are you using?
 
RosaMystica said:
I need help on how to catalog periodicals. I’m thinking of donating my back-issues of “This Rock” and “First Things,” but I don’t know how to enter them. Has anyone done this? Also, should I require that they remain in the library or let them be checked out like a book?
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We voted not to have periodicals.

I lend them just like a book, but you’d need to know exactly what issue was borrowed.

Mimi
 
Change of topic – I may start a new thread on this:

Banned books.

We’ve discussed this somewhat already on this thread, but it would be nice to have a place to enter books as we find them along with the reason they are banned.

I was browsing at our public library today where many discarded books are for sale REAL CHEAP; patrons may also donate books.

I found a gem! The Life of Christ by Fulton Sheen – for $1!

I was wondering about Shoes of the Fisherman; I know it was made into a movie starring Anthony Quinn, but would it be a good novel for a Catholic library? I suppose I’ll have to read it.

The book I bought which I would ban was in the children’s section: Young Jesus of Nazareth by Marianna Meyer. Beautifully illustrated with classical prints of paintings, many of which I’ve seen in other places. As I was skimming through the 1st few pp, I read:
On the Blessed Night that christ was born…
In many places of the land strange happenings gave signs of the holy event. That evening in Rome a geyser burst forth from the earth. A temple roof collapsed without warning, shattering a magnificent statue of the Roman deity Jupiter. and a statue of Venus declared to the frightened people in the temple: “This has happened because a virgin conceived a son and has given birth this day.”
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Huh??? Never heard that one before. I figured I’d buy it just to keep it out of anyone else’s hands. I’m glad it was discarded! In the author’s note in the back, she writes:
To construct a portrat of that child, I turned to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.
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So, that explains the weird stories. There’s also the one in there (which I’d heard before; I think the scene may be in a movie) where 5 yo Jesus made sparrows out of clay; he claps his hands, and “At once the clay figures sprang to life and flew away.”

I’m going to keep this as an example of how careful we should be in selecting books for our children

I hope others will send in titles (esp. of children’s books) you would not house in your parish library.

Tomorrow I may go buy the one on Margaret Sanger…and build a nice fire when I get home!

God bless,
Mimi
 
“The Shoes of the Fisherman”…I saw that movie in high school and I didn’t like it. A new Pope is elected from Russia, he keeps his own name (in fairness, he has a Saint’s name, Kyrill/Cyril) and he meets this kook of a theologian who he befriends. This priest is at odds with the Church and it’s stated or strongly implied that some extremists cause him to be poisoned and die. I believe the new Pope has all the art of the Roman Church sold for the poor or some such well-intentioned silliness, a remarkably rude thing for an Eastern Catholic to do if you ask me. And then he saves the world or something. It’s like some semi-liberal Catholic’s fantasy; I cringed at it even in the infancy of my faith.
 
Rocky8311 said:
“The Shoes of the Fisherman”…I saw that movie in high school and I didn’t like it. A new Pope is elected from Russia, he keeps his own name (in fairness, he has a Saint’s name, Kyrill/Cyril) and he meets this kook of a theologian who he befriends. This priest is at odds with the Church and it’s stated or strongly implied that some extremists cause him to be poisoned and die. I believe the new Pope has all the art of the Roman Church sold for the poor or some such well-intentioned silliness, a remarkably rude thing for an Eastern Catholic to do if you ask me. And then he saves the world or something. It’s like some semi-liberal Catholic’s fantasy; I cringed at it even in the infancy of my faith.
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I’ll file it in the kindling box…

thanks

Mimi
 
Mimi said:
Change of topic – I may start a new thread on this:

Banned books.

We’ve discussed this somewhat already on this thread, but it would be nice to have a place to enter books as we find them along with the reason they are banned.
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That gives me an interesting idea. We should have a wiki. Something like CatholicParishLibrary.com. We could all go in and share the knowledge we have of different Catholic books and publishers.

Do you think such a thing would be useful?
 
Joe_5859 said:
That gives me an interesting idea. We should have a wiki. Something like CatholicParishLibrary.com. We could all go in and share the knowledge we have of different Catholic books and publishers.

Do you think such a thing would be useful?
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Sounds great … can you set it up. I have no idea, really, what a “wiki” is, except wikipedia.

It’s not like a blog site I guess.

Anyone ever read this:
…“Knowledge of the Holy” by A.W. Tozer. Pound for pound that is one of the more dense little books out there. Rarely do people sit down for a prolonged spell and study only the attributes of God. And in my experience this book hits many first time readers like a ton of bricks. I would like to see the reactions of non-believers as well as they read this book. It would be very interesting to see how they respond to such a concentrated, orthodox description of God, as many times the God of their own mind (which they find so easy to dismiss) is rather lacking in comparison.
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According to the conservative world view I have adopted, there is no better place to start than here. From God is where it all flows…. and even though a conservative political mind may reject the personal aspect of knowing and being reunited with God, it will still be well served to know more about the ultimate source for principles and virtues which make the world work (as well as it can anyway.) Even if you don’t believe in God the same way you believe the sky looks blue, you can still live and think as if you do.
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Found this comment at: redstate.com/erick/2009/10/06/redstate-book-notes/

This might be an example of a non-Catholic book (if indeed the author is NOT Catholic) that I might consider for a Catholic library.

Mimi
 
Joe_5859 said:
That gives me an interesting idea. We should have a wiki. Something like CatholicParishLibrary.com. We could all go in and share the knowledge we have of different Catholic books and publishers.

Do you think such a thing would be useful?
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why not just form a group for that. Thats the third tab on the top of the screen.
 
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