This month, following the tone of the smaller summer services, I’d like to speak to you in a more personal manner as I introduce the members of People’s Library Committee and explain a bit about us. This month’s column may be of no interest to those who are recent visitors to the church or to those who never notice the library or this part of the newsletter. Please bear with me. Since I’m too shy to drop pebbles and express gratitude and joy for the women in the committee, I’m taking this chance to say how I feel.
I’m Lois Loeffler, the chair of the committee since a couple of years before Jan Park moved to Heritage and asked me to become the chair. We were glad that she agreed to continue to be part of the committee as long as she felt able. Until Kay Spade’s recent death, she was also a valued member of the committee as was Cory Zann until her resignation last year. Our present members are Susan Stafford, Nancy Stern, and Marijo Steenstra.
Among the committee’s tasks is to determine which books to add to the collection and which ones to withdraw. The fact that all of the women I’ve named above were avid readers helped immensely. Kay’s wide reading interests as well as her experiences in the Study Group brought her wisdom to our decisions. She and Jan had a historical memory of this church as well as UU in general that was valuable. The interest that Susan and Cory had in reading non-fiction books of spirituality and meditation has been valuable. The medical background shared by Marijo and Susan has been very helpful in making purchase and withdrawal decisions of books pertaining to health, parenting, or psychological issues. Nancy’s experience as a children’s librarian has contributed to the selection of books that were brought to Diane Melvin’s attention for possible replacement or withdrawal. The Library Committee prepares the RE books for placement in the RE section of the library but Diane makes the procurement choices.
Another task the committee has assumed is the preparation of books for the church’s White Elephant sale. Since the adult section of the church library does not include fiction titles, it’s always fun to see what novels have been donated for the sale. Arranging the non-fiction books by broad subject categories was Cory’s brainchild a few years ago and continues to be appreciated by the sale’s customers. This takes a lot of work, as does the entire process of preparing for the White Elephant sale, but it’s fun. At least it’s fun for a retired YA (grades 6 – 12) librarian like me. It’s also fun to work with this group of women who care about books and the church enough to put in time once a month to gather for a meeting which often extends past its official two hour time allotment and then to put in the extra work for the WE sale.
If you have comments or questions about the church library, please ask any of us. Or just say Hi. We like being here and feel rewarded when you check out books.
Lois Loeffler (left), Jan Park (right
Questions/ comments are welcomed. Please contact Lois Loeffler, chair of the Library Committee, at loisloeffler@gmail.com.