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Religious Libraries

History

 

            The development of religious libraries came from the fact that within the certain religions people wanted information. The most recognizable library to set up a good system is the Roman Catholic Church. The church mainly as to its size has influenced the church library, whether it has promotion of the library (Harvey 1980).

 

Current

 

            The religious library exists today to broaden the knowledge of people who want to learn about that religion or different religions. The library is to provide that patron with the information they are seeking for (Ezell and Anderson 1988). The library should provided reading material according to that church in connection with the religious activities. Also the religious librarians can have the support of joining an organization such as the Church and Synagogue Library Association (Harvey 1980).

 

Collection

 

            The collection depends on the type of religious library, as there are so many. Most collections exist in the church and are rather small, however there are some that are rather huge such at institutions or seminaries (Harvey 1980). Religious Libraries tend to use the Dewey Decimal system, as it is less costly and easy. Most collections are given from the people in that specific congregation as a donation; this makes keeping the collection current difficult because most religions do not have the funding (Scheer 1973).

 

Subject Headings

 

Agnosticism

Atheism

Bible

Christianity

Creationism

Deism

Eastern Religions

Faith

Philosophy

Religion

Western Religions

Worship

 

 

(Miller, J. 2000).

 

 

Patrons

 

Patrons tend to be the people of the congregation or those who are interesting in looking into other religions. The religious library should provide the resources patrons want (Ezell and Anderson 1988).

 

Staff

 

            The staff tends to be small until you get to a university or seminary. Staffing tends to only be one person as the collection is small. Most of the time all the person needs is background in that religion unless at a university or seminary and then possibly the Master of Library Science is needed (Ezell and Anderson 1988). Staff can join the Church and Synagogue Library Association to find help and collaboration (Harvey 1980).

 

Organizations

 

            Church and Synagogue Library Association

 

 

Job Opportunities

 

            Job Opportunities can be found through the Church and Synagogue Library Association website. The salary for the most part tends to be low; in small church libraries it is usually someone who volunteers, so in a sense they could make nothing and do it for fun (Scheer 1973). Someone having a background in Library Science might be a rarity (Harvey 1980). The salary at a larger university or seminary can be about $40,000. This is a figure I am guessing since I could not find it in any of the online sources.