Did you know that Saint John’s has a library? Well, okay, it’s more like “a bookshelf” right now, but it’s already loaded with some very interesting books and resources. And we’d like to see it grow!

Checkout

Joyce and other office volunteers have been working on a catalog; you can view the fruits of their labors here. The books are organized by author (last name) on the shelf in Room 301. We’re working on a “fancy” checkout system, but if you’d like to checkout a book now, you may do so by printing your name, phone number and the name of the book on the nearby sign-out sheet. To return the book, drop it into the “Returns” box so that our volunteers may process it for recirculation.

Growing the Library

You can help the library grow! Please donate your gently-used Christian-themed books. We will review them and select the items most appropriate for our collection. Please indicate when you donate whether you’d like any books we are unable to use returned to you or donated to another organization.

If you’re looking for some reading and not finding anything that strikes your fancy in our current collection, please check out the suggested-reading list at Amazon.com. These are books that we’d love to review for use in the library, but don’t have the resources to purchase. If you find a book you’re interested in there, consider purchasing it, reading it and then donating it to Saint John’s. We’d appreciate your take on the book, too—they are all books that we’ve heard about “through the grapevine” that may or may not reinforce Lutheran theology. (Take that as a little “reader beware”!) You can find the Amazon list here.

Magazine Exchange

The magazine swap is also in Room 302. Once you’ve read the most recent issue of your favorite subscription magazine, donate it by leaving it on the shelf. See if anything others have donated piques your interest!

Other Ideas?

As Jane is meticulously going through each entry of our current catalog, Joyce is continuing to build catalogues of our worship, Bible study and Children’s Ministry resources. Sharon is going through old archive materials for filing and possible display.

The library is just a seed at this point, but with your help it can grow into an important resource for Christian growth and education at Saint John’s. We’d love to have to beg the Trustees to build more shelves for all of the great items we’ve collected and catalogued.

Do you have an idea for making the library a more useful tool? Please email any thoughts you have to Tom in the church office.

Finally: none of this would be possible without the hard work of our various office volunteers. Many thanks to Jane, Lu, Sharon, Marian, Marge, Joyce, Arlene, Mary and Nelly, who report for duty every week to work on these and a variety of other projects. Would you be interested in lending some of your time to volunteer in the office? We’re seeking someone to work Thursday mornings and looking for a number of substitutes to work on an as-neeeded basis, about once a month. Contact Tom for details!

Tom Miles is the Parish Administrator at Saint John’s. You can reach him at the church office Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to Noon and 1:00 to 4:00 pm, at 482-5316 or at miles@StJohnsFC.org.