Resource Sharing Among West Texas Special Libraries
Initial Steps & Future Prospects
Bill Johnson

Note: This article can be found in its entirety with an additional chart of collection use by material type and a bibliography of further reading at http://www.hub.ofthe.net/fbc/library/share/webshare.htm.

Special libraries come in all shapes and sizes. Their purpose, collections, and patrons constitute unique blends of information services and resources. While the focus of this article is church libraries, the process and principles of resource sharing apply to any specialized collection of information sources. Yet, church libraries constitute the most common and widespread type of special library, thus they exemplify the potential for resource sharing among special libraries.1

The range of resource sharing options described in this article is quite diverse, ranging from the donation of duplicates as "seed sources" for new collections in neighboring churches to establishing an Internet accessible, Web-based catalog available around the corner or around the world. This type of catalog became operational on November 5, 1997, at First Baptist Church, Lubbock, Texas, and may be the first such on-line catalog in a church library in Texas, the United States, or perhaps the world. The range in resource sharing activity in this project exhibits a broad yet simple concept of resource sharing. Academic libraries have been doing so for years. Now with the advent of relatively inexpensive personal computers and the efficient networking afforded by the World Wide Web, resource-sharing networks are now possible among the smallest and most specialized of libraries.

Taking the First Step

Each journey begins with the first step. The history of First Baptist Church and its Media Library is relatively long and distinguished.2 It is well documented and available in electronic as well as print formats, and will not be repeated here. Suffice it to say that the present collection is the product of the diligent and faithful service of many dedicated volunteers.

As time marched on and the collection grew, it did so without the direction of written guidelines or the professional training commonly associated with a professional degree in library and information science. This is common in church libraries. Thus, the first step toward modernization involved writing collection development and circulation policies. We then set out to weed duplicates and titles that did not fit these written guidelines. Without these written guidelines, it is quite difficult to express a vision for your library. Any vision that is well articulated is much more likely to be achieved. We simultaneously attempted to gain a better understanding of the collection by sampling the shelves to determine the material’s age and use patterns. Use drastically dropped off in the late 1980s. A number of factors may have contributed to this, such as the health of the librarian, quality of the collection, and the general reading habits of the congregation.

Once we had taken stock of what was in the collection, we initiated the first step in resource sharing: donating items to other special libraries in the area. The local phone directory and the Lubbock Baptist Association served as the main reference points with which to contact potentially interested libraries. In some cases the donated items served as the seed to start a brand new library while in other cases they supplemented existing collections. In addition to church libraries, other religious support groups received materials to help with their educational mission. Buckner’s Children’s Home was one such local ministry.

Many of the weeded items were transferred to other ministries at First Baptist, such as the Children’s Development Center and Love in Action, a prison parolee ministry. Occasionally, books were moved out of the circulating collection into the Heritage Library, which is the historical archive of First Baptist Church. Between April 1996 and November 1997, 3,796 items were removed from the circulating collection. Some items were also sold to church members and local second-hand book stores. Approximately 25 items are added to the collection each month. Funds for the purchase of new items come from sales, fines, and a regular budget. The latter source is by far the largest. Gifts are also received and added if they do not duplicate items already in the collection and meet the written collection development guidelines.

In tracking usage patterns of our church library, we find that July is the most active month (Figure 1), probably due to our summer reading program. It is less clear why April use drops off so much from the highly active month of March. Overall, average use is 292 transactions per month (the library is open 12 hours per week).

Evaluating use by material type or Dewey classification suggests that patrons are most interested in children’s books, religious books, videos, and fiction (Figures 2 & 3). In spite of the fact that many of our heavily used items are not classified as "religious," they are characterized by Christian content. Another clarification regarding use involves videos. Most of our video use is with children’s titles.

This should ease some of the concern that has been expressed over the years about possible "competition" with the public library.3 In fact, the importance of church libraries may be growing as public libraries collect fewer Christian works and publishers of Christian books increase output to meet demand.

It might be expected that levels of use correspond with the amount of material available in any particular format or classification, but this is not necessarily the case. Based on available shelving, children’s books do have similar levels of use and representation in the collection, nearly 24% each. Videos, on the other hand, occupy a relatively small part of the collection (5%), yet receive a significant level of use (21.2%). Fiction materials follow the same pattern but not to the same extent, 8% of the collection and 12% of the use. Religious works show the opposite pattern, with correspondingly less use (22.6%) for more material (44%). The level of use for religious titles is higher than any other group, except children’s books, yet if size of the collection is any indication, higher use would be expected.

What Do Others Say? Literature on Church Libraries

Not a great deal of information has been reported in the professional literature regarding church libraries or church librarianship. Yet, there is no lack of material about the technical aspects of organizing and sharing library resources. Thus, it is simply a matter of applying the available information regarding emerging technologies to any particular type of special library, church or otherwise. There will be no attempt here to present a comprehensive picture of what the literature has to offer on resource sharing among church or other special libraries. Rather, I will present a brief review of selected articles relevant to this topic.

While special libraries, especially church libraries, have a long track record of exemplary service, the historical record only weakly documents this fact. Yet, sufficient gems exist from which we may draw a wealth of insight. The professional library literature of the last twenty or thirty years is particularly weak in this regard and even reveals a significant attitude shift against church libraries.

Parochial libraries have been more fully studied. Authors such as John Day present the historical context in which many of these libraries functioned, how they were managed, and what one could expect to find on the shelves.4 Owens, on the other hand, makes stronger claims about the significance of these collections in the lives of church members and the role they played in the development of public libraries in this country. Although it may surprise many, she states, "It is not strange that Christianity was closely associated with modern book production and the establishment of libraries. The library movement in the United States has its origins in the church library."5 In regard to book production, Fraser claims that the advent of the printing press, in at least some parts of the U.S., was directly the result of Christian missionary activity.6 The work of Thomas Bray offers perhaps one of the best pictures of how church libraries influenced early American culture with his parish and lending libraries at the turn of the seventeenth century. While not everyone agrees how extensive that influence was, many acknowledge that we owe most of our libraries to great churchmen.7

While the origin of public libraries is intimately associated with the development of church libraries in the U.S., each has a distinctive role.8 A spirit of collaboration and cooperation should characterize the relationship between the two institutions: church libraries and public libraries are partners in meeting information needs.9 The manner in which special libraries fulfill their role in the coming years must adapt to changes in our culture. Just as academic and public libraries cooperate with like institutions in the development of resource- sharing networks, so can special libraries, such as those found in churches across the United States.10 Many tools are available to support this work, such as those presented in the annual spring issue of Library Systems.11 It is largely a matter of having a "resource sharing" philosophy. Without this perspective, the future viability of church libraries is in question. If church libraries and other special libraries are to fulfill their niche in meeting the unique information needs of tomorrow’s generation, high-tech tools and networks must become the norm rather than the exception in our churches and synagogues.

Web Sites

While the professional and scholarly literature does well to place church libraries in the context of resource sharing among special libraries, any claim of priority to have established the first Web-based on-line catalog in a church library necessitates a review of Internet sites.

A diverse strategy has been employed in the search for a Web-based church library catalog on the Internet, including standard search tools such as Alta Vista and browsing related sites on the Net such as Church On-line (http://www.churchonline.com/index.html).

Additionally, various listservs have been routinely monitored. Since no Internet search could claim to be comprehensive, the brief list below represents the closest matches to a Web-based on-line catalog for a church library found thus far. Each has unique and interesting features, yet none have the entire range of features typically associated with an on-line catalog, namely entering your own search terms, either keyword, author, title, subject, or a combination of these.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Library Catalog http://www.elca.org/os/library/eng/wphome.htm

This Chicago-based site for a denominational association (rather than a local church) most closely matches the features of a traditional on-line search tool with one exception: no search terms may be entered. Thus, simple keyword and boolean search options are not available. One simply selects author, title, or subject terms from available lists. This site is a good example of resource sharing among special libraries as envisioned in this article, yet it lacks some of the technical capabilities normally associated with searching library systems.

Ottawa Mennonite Church Library On-Line Catalog

http://livewire.newforce.ca/kilborn/library.htm

This "catalog" is simply a Web page listing of the books in the collection by author. It is not searchable with simple keywords nor terms connected by boolean operators (and, or, not). While it is one of the few attempts to provide access to a physical collection of materials on the Web, it is not an on-line catalog in the traditional sense.

Presbyterian Church of Bellevue Virtual Library

http://www.fpcbellevue.org/library.htm

In addition to listing a number of links to related Christian sites, this "library" offers access to BiblioNet, selected excerpts from past newsletters. They also offer a weekly Scripture reading schedule and several lists of suggested readings for specific topics or courses. Yet, an on-line catalog to a physical collection does not exist.

St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church

http://www. stherman.sunnyvale.ca.us/

This frame-based Web site offers a link to an "On-line Church Library" and even directs one to "The Virtual Library Card Catalog." Upon making this selection, however, one finds directions on how to use the "card catalog" which is a set of links to recipes and biographical information on the lives of various Saints. No physical collection is identified nor have any books been cataloged and made available via this "on-line system."

Trinity Net Church Library

http://www.trinitynet.org/library.html

A series of links to locally mounted sermons, presentations, Bible studies, devotions, and catechisms. No physical collection of books, journals, or tapes is evident, nor is a searchable database present.

Virtual Church: Library

http://www.virtualchurch.org/library.htm

This site offers electronic resources such as the Bible, book reviews, puzzles, exhibits, bookstores, and magazines, essentially a list of links to off-site materials, some full-text and some searchable. No physical collection is apparent, thus, no electronic catalog is available to search for local holdings.

As with these institutions, FBC Media Library established a Web presence and considers this second step in resource sharing to be the most critical as it represents a fundamental shift in thinking from limited influence to world-wide community partner in information dissemination (http://www. HUB.ofthe.NET/fbc/library/library.htm). Much has been written elsewhere about how to create and design a Web site.12 It is fair to say that Web-based technologies offer a great deal of power and flexibility, enabling almost any individual or institution the opportunity to publish multimedia or text to a vast audience on nearly any topic.

Practical Steps

The third step in resource sharing among special libraries involves automating the collection, then making the on-line catalog available to the broadest possible audience with the most efficient interface—that of the World Wide Web. The Media Minister and others at First Baptist supported the development of an automated system for the Media Library, but I entered into a great debate: whether or not to automate.

The primary concern was cost. One question loomed large: How many books could be purchased with the money spent on computers and the necessary software to mount an on-line catalog? Other factors were involved, including my lack of expertise in the installation and maintenance of such a system.

First Baptist was in the process of gathering recommendations for renovating the church and upgrading the existing computer system. A task force was formed to recommend how the future media library should look and how it should function. Computers were an important element in their recommendations.13 Due to the high cost of this proposal and the renovation scheduled in other areas in the church, no action was taken at that time.

The general FBC computer upgrade did move forward, however, and the library received two Pentium PCs and one Bubble Jet color printer. Eventually, a fully integrated system offering cataloging, circulation, and search components was installed and catalog records began to be added.

Our use of EzCat, a bibliographic utility that enables the copying of catalog records from various libraries such as the Library of Congress, the Ohio System, the University of California System, among many others, greatly increased the speed of adding our 10,000 items to the database. The final software component installed, Webrary, enabled anyone with Internet access and a Web browser to conduct simple or complex searches of our catalog.

In addition to the components mentioned above, one must consider the operating system, such as Windows 95, Internet software such as Ws_ftp, a modem, and an Internet connection, such as a static IP address, so patrons may connect to your library from anywhere in the world. Some level of familiarity with hypertext markup language (HTML) is essential and HTML editing software, while not absolutely required, may be helpful in creating the small number of Web pages used by a Web-based catalog.

Due to the rapidly changing software environment, especially as it relates to the Web, specific pricing information and software version availability is not provided here. The supplier of the FBC system has a Web page and it should be consulted for details regarding these rapidly fluctuating factors.14

The advantages to an automated system are substantial. Accurate reports, including inventories, are usually easy to produce and update with computerized library systems. Circulation statistics, fines, and overdue items are easy to track. The collection is also much easier to search for the up-and-coming generation of patrons that libraries are serving now and will continue to serve for many years. PC’s in the church library also facilitate the use of many CD-ROM products that support teaching and the study of the Bible and related texts. Fun Christian games bring kids of all ages into to the library and bring them back to challenge the church librarian in a fast game of Bible-Baseball or similar activity.

Conclusion

Resource sharing among special libraries begins with an awareness of the inequity in the distribution of certain resources. Next, one must be willing to explore local options for extending access to some materials in cooperative ventures so as to form partnerships with other libraries having similar collections. These collaborative arrangements enable patrons to find materials otherwise out of reach and require each participating institution to make an investment in the network of their extended special libraries "family." Resource sharing is a give-and-take operation.

The steps outlined here involve 1) Exploring local resource sharing options and identifying materials needed or available for distribution; 2) Establishing an efficient mechanism whereby information may be shared with the widest possible audience for the least cost, probably via the Web; and 3) Automating your library catalog and installing a Web-based version of your on-line system. While each library will need to proceed at a pace suitable to their size, budget, and expertise, it is simply a matter of taking the first step that will help build a resource sharing network in your city, state, or region. This network is now a long way from being complete. Yet, as electronic systems continue to drop in price and interest in these systems continues to increase in our culture, special libraries will enter into more and more networking partnerships to meet the information demands of individuals and groups neglected by the larger public and academic institutions.

As opportunities for collaboration and world-wide information dissemination grow, so do the challenges for maintaining system integrity and security. Yet, I am confident that special librarians will be better trained and more knowledgeable to meet these challenges and assume the risks, for greater risks imply greater rewards.

Notes

1. Joy M. Gambill, "The role of church libraries in rural communities" (master’s thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1992), 1.

2. William T Johnson, 1996. "FBC Media Library: History," http://www.hub.ofthe.net/fbc/library/history.htm, This brief history is based on text from The First Baptist Church of Lubbock, Texas: A Centennial History 1891–1991, ed. Weston A. Petty (Austin: Eakin Publications Inc., 1991).

3. John F. Anderson, 1962. "Church Libraries: A Problem that Won’t Go Away," Library Journal 87 (September 1, 1962), 2833–2835.

4. John C. Day, "Parochial Libraries in Northumberland Before 1830," Library History 8, no. 4 (1989), 93–103.

5. Irene Owens, "The Importance of the Library Within the Black Local Church," The Journal of Religious Thought 42 (Fall/Winter 1985–86), 66.

6. James H. Fraser, "Indian Mission Printing in Arizona: An Historical Sketch and Bibliography," Journal of Arizona History (Summer 1969), 67–68.

7. Norma S. Gordon, "Thomas Bray: A Study in Early Eighteenth-Century Librarianship" (Ph.D. diss., Catholic University of America, 1961), 89.

8. Mancil Ezell and Jacqulyn Anderson, The Media Library in a Church (Nashville: Convention Press, 1988), 13–25.

9. Joyce L. White, "Church and Synagogue Libraries: Resources for the Public Library," Library Journal, 109, no.17 (October 15, 1984), 1894–96.

10. Ruth Schneider, "The Church Library: Backbone of Parish Intellectual Life," Catholic Library World 65 (July/August/September, 1994), 44–47

11. Library Systems Newsletter, (Library Technology Reports of the American Library Association) 17, no. 5 (May 1997), 33–44.

12. William T. Johnson, "Bibliography of Hypertext and HTML Publishing Guides," http://www.lib.ttu.edu/subject/hyp-bib.htm (1997).

13. "FBC Media Library 1996 Task Force Report. First Baptist Church, Media Ministry," ed. William T. Johnson, http://www.HUB.ofthe.NET/fbc/library/future.htm (1996).

14. "Master Library System," http://www.booksys.com/.