the non-essential resources in your church library that are taking up room and creating clutter.
We all do it. We look at the old books on our shelves, many outdated and most likely no longer relative to our culture of the 21st century, BUT we just cannot throw them away. WHY NOT? We tell ourselves it is disrespectful to throw away old resources especially if someone donated this book some 65 years ago in memory of a loved one. What about the old Bibles we continue to store with shredded binding, torn and yellowed pages, we know we would not carry them around but think there just might be someone, somewhere that could use this. Really? I mean after all, we own numerous versions of the Bible. You know what I am talking about. . . Researcher George Gallup points out that so many Bibles have been printed in the United States "that even rough estimates of the total number published to date do not exist." 92% of households in America alone own at least one Bible and the avaerage household owns three.
What now? Give yourself permission to let go of the old to make room for the new. There are agencies, libraries, collectors, and others anxiously awaiting for these old resources to make their way down the pipeline.
Let's make our church libraries conducisve for browsing, invitational, and contagious. Why not offer a coffee hour in your resource center? Comfortable chairs, a little paint, lights to read by, create an atmosphere that folks desire. Get them excited about what is available in your resource center. Highlight new resources in your newsletter or other publicity sources your church uses. Have an open house or reading session. . . be creative!
There are some classic resources you will not want to discard. . . when in doubt, ask. There are also countless dated resource you will want to discard. Take ye authority! Do what Nike says: "JUST DO IT!"
Well-said! The Habitat For Humanity Re-Store sells donated books. They come by the pallet-full and each one is scanned to appraise, often giving high value to unlikely specimens. Unsaleable books have cover and pages separated for recycling. I've often searched the bins hoping for a sweet freebie only to find piles of grimy, crumbling Bibles -- cheaply printed and badly stored, stinking of lignin acid and mildew. Religious books are among those with the least monetary value -- Bibles top the list. Ironically, because Christians relinquished rules for Sofer or Genizot, we have devalued our most precious texts even as we make them available to all.
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