Librarians Christian Fellowship

Public libraries have been in the news again recently. A government minister was widely reported to have called on libraries to dispense with their traditionally sombre image. They were advised to drop their rules enforcing silence and banning mobile 'phones, and introduce coffee shops and bookshops into their premises. These suggestions drew a mixed response from the media, with one commentator suggesting that if she wanted a cup of coffee, she would go to the local branch of Starbucks, not to the public library!

Practising librarians, and regular library users, will probably wonder where the minister has been for the last few years. Many library buildings already include coffee bars while very few enforce an absolute rule of silence. For many librarians there is only one thing worse than politicians not taking an interest in libraries. That is when politicians do take an interest!

The minister is right, though, that the present era is a time of change and challenge for libraries and librarians. The writer of Ecclesiastes may have felt overwhelmed by the volume of books produced in his own society, but he can hardly have anticipated the vast flood of books, CDs, DVDs, and other media that threaten to overwhelm the contemporary librarian. St. John's notion of the whole world being filled with books does not seem quite so far-fetched these days! Computers and the Internet are now a prominent feature of almost all libraries and new formats – such as electronic books – are providing an alternative to the traditional printed book.

Like Christian professionals in other walks of life, Christians in the library service see their everyday work as part of their service to God and to their fellow men and women. Many will see their role in controlling and organising the outpouring of knowledge and information as helping to fulfill the cultural mandate of Genesis in which humankind was commanded to fill the earth and subdue it. For more than thirty years, the Librarians' Christian Fellowship (LCF) has sought to unite Christians from all branches of the library and information professions – not only the public library service – and provide a forum in which matters of professional concern can be discussed.

Over the years the Fellowship has addressed a number of issues that are of concern to librarians. For example: what about the vexed question of 'censorship'? Librarians have traditionally been committed to the “free flow of information” but this has sometimes caused difficulties for Christians who feel that certain materials reflect a moral and spiritual stance at variance with their own beliefs. The Sunday opening of libraries has also become a hot issue for some Christians in libraries in the recent past.

What about the provision of Christian books in libraries? The supply of religious titles on library shelves often (though not always) leaves something to be desired. For many years LCF has supported the Christian Book Promotion Trust (see www.christianbookpromotions.org.uk/ ) whose Speaking Volumes project assists churches to donate books to their local school and public libraries.

If you are not a regular library user, why not drop into your local library sometime? You may be surprised at the range of services currently on offer. And please remember to pray for your local library staff, Christian and non-Christian alike, as they seek to serve their users in a rapidly changing society.