Saint Joseph Catholic Church Parish Library Manual

About the Parish Library

Saint Joseph Parish Library was started in 1995 by former pastor, Father Pat Clark, and Vee Fletcher, a long-time parishioner and retired librarian. At that time the library consisted of a small area in the church

hall. Vee was given the John Paul II Room and began building the collection by procuring recommended titles with a small budget, as well as incorporating donations from parishioners. With Vee’s hard work

the library continued to expand until it outgrew that space.

In the summer of 2011, the library moved to the St. Therese Room. The grand reopening for the new library was in November 2011. As of 2019, the collection stands at about 3,500 items.

The Library Committee is comprised of a core of volunteers who help select and organize materials and provide assistance to patrons. Our dedicated volunteers try to be available after Masses to assist with

finding books and answering questions. If a volunteer is not in the library, we use a self-checkout honor system. You are welcome to drop by any time that the church is open to checkout or return books. The

library space is also used for various other ministry meetings. If a meeting is in progress, a small selection of books is available to borrow on two small bookcases just outside the library. You can also return

items at those little bookcases - self-checkout directions are posted.

Mission

St. Joseph Parish Library encourages, supports and enriches the spiritual and intellectual growth of our parishioners by providing literature and resources for all ages.

• Goals

  • To be an instrument of God’s love by fostering spiritual growth

  • To provide materials that follow the Magisterium of the Church

  • To present materials in an organized manner

Procedure Statement

Patrons are asked to fill out a check-out card inside the front (or back) cover of all material with their name, date and phone number or email address. The loan period is three weeks for books and CDs and

one week for DVDs. We ask that all material be returned within that time frame so items can be made available for other parishioners. To renew an item, either send an email to the library via the library page

on St. Joseph’s website or leave a note including book title, your name & phone number in the book return box located on the cart outside library. Blue notecards are available in the checkout area for writing

notes. A library volunteer will contact patrons to answer questions and to remind them to return overdue items. We do not charge overdue fines.

Collection Development/Selection Criteria

The following guidelines will be used by the Library Committee to determine the suitability of all materials, donated or purchased, that are available for check out. The intent is to adhere to our Catholic

doctrine and dogma by following the Magisterium of the Church. The library will collect material in the following categories: Non-Fiction, Fiction, Reference and Non-book media. Books must be in good

condition, with strong bindings and no excessive damage. Non-book media and electronic resources, (i.e. Music CD’s) must be in good condition, fully playable or accessible, and free of malware

(viruses, worms, spyware). We currently do not accept cassette tapes or video donations. The library seeks to collect non-fiction materials that are in agreement with the Catechism and teachings of the

Catholic faith. Content of fiction material must be found suitable for the church library. In addition to the criteria listed above, materials will also be judged on the following criteria:

• Are the publisher and/or author reputable?

• Does it contain well-documented and responsible research?

• What do reviewers say about it?

• Copyright Date

Multiple copies of an item may be kept in circulation but will be limited to allow space for a variety of material. Individuals wishing to donate material to the library can drop off materials marked for donation

at the library. The materials will then be used at the discretion of the library committee in accordance with our policies. Any and all material not utilized by the library will be discarded according to our

weeding policy. If patrons would like an email or letter acknowledging a donation, they need to leave their contact info with the donation.

Weeding

Space is limited in the library and it is inevitable that some materials will need to be discarded (“weeded”) in order to make room for newer materials. Material that is “weeded” may be offered to church

members, donated to mission organizations in need of books, or sold with the proceeds to be used to procure suitable books for our library. Materials will be deselected from the Collection based on one or

more of the following criteria:

• Damage or wear beyond repair

• Lack of circulation

• Out-of-date; updated, newer or revised materials available

• Duplicates

• Poor reviews that are relevant, credible and substantial.

Comments and Concerns

Anyone with a concern, who wishes to challenge materials that are included/excluded from the library, should fill out our Request for Reconsideration form (available on our web page) and submit it to the

office for review by the Library Committee. A course of action will be determined. In the event the Library Committee does not reach consensus on a solution, our pastor will have the final word. The

individual filing the concern/challenge will be notified of the result. Possible courses of action to be taken by the committee include, but are not limited to:

• Remove material from collection

• Add material to collection

• Place material in a secure location, available upon request

• Affix a reader’s advisory warning label to material

• Take no action

Code of Ethics

We will not collect or retain your private and personally identifiable information without your consent. Further, if you consent to give us your personally identifiable information, we will keep it confidential

and will not sell, license or disclose personal information to any third party without your consent, unless we are compelled to do so under the law or to comply with a court order. Confidential records include but are not limited to circulation records, registration records, reference requests, reference and internet searches, and interlibrary loan requests.