Tree of Life Library
Mission Statement
Location
Hours
Checkout Policies
Resources
Children's Section
Young Adults
Adults
Library Book Sale
Donations
Selection Criteria for All Materials
Volunteer Opportunities
Areas Where Help is Needed
Mission Statement
Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church serves the spiritual, intellectual, and emotional needs of the whole Christian through promoting an educational experience that includes spiritual growth, social concerns, evangelism, and wholesome recreational reading. We are growing the family of God by providing access to materials which support this initiative.
Location
Located at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, 19001 Jackson St. NE, in East Bethel, MN, the library can be found in the Gathering Space.
Hours
The library is open whenever the church is open. Church office hours are Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., and Saturday/Sunday, 7:30 a.m. – noon. Contact the church office for evening hours when the church will be open.
Checkout Policies
All resources can be checked out for a period of one month. Resources can be checked out anytime using the self-checkout forms on the center bookcase in the library. Instructions are located on the wall above the checkout forms.
Resources
Resources at the library are not limited to only members of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church; the entire community is welcome to explore the library. The library team is responsible for selecting all materials. The collection is to be of high quality, broad in scope, and well balanced. The library will contain only those materials that promote the growth and understanding of Christian living for all ages while supporting ELCA doctrine.
Children's Section
A vast selection of picture and chapter books, videos, and DVDs helps kids see God in every part of their lives.
Young Adults
A non-fiction section deals with issues that affect teens today, such as forming healthy relationships, handling peer pressure, and overcoming the challenges of living life as both a teenager and a Christian. A fiction section focuses on positive, healthy behaviors.
Adults
The non-fiction section contains a variety of topics, such as Christian living, self-improvement, marriage, parenting, family life, and autobiographies. The fiction section grows constantly and includes topics from romance to mystery and intrigue. A section on grief also encompasses a variety of reading materials providing support for coping with the loss of a loved one. Theology references, including Biblical concordances and Bible study materials, are available for individual or small group use.
Donations
To help the library continue to grow, the library welcomes monetary gifts and gifts of new materials, often made in honor of a loved one or special occasion. Donations towards new furnishings, equipment, or book processing materials for the library are necessary and very much appreciated. Please contact the church office if you are interested in making a contribution of this nature or if you have questions about making any type of donation to support the library. Materials may be donated to the library with the understanding they must first be approved as meeting the selection criteria. Donated materials that cannot be used will be returned to the donor, passed along to another library, donated to a non-profit organization, or will be sold to a used book store with proceeds going to the library for the purchase of more new materials. Materials should be in new or like new condition, and published within the last ten years, unless they are considered "classics."
Selection Criteria for All Materials
- To emphasize Christian spiritual, moral, and devotional growth and development.
- To strengthen the educational programs of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church.
- To aid in the study of the Bible.
- To help people build healthy and successful relationships.
- To help people further their understanding of others’ needs.
- To help children and youth in development of their faith and personal relationships.
- To inform the church body of social issues and the Christian’s role in those issues.
Volunteer Opportunities
The library operates with the help of an all-volunteer support staff. The library team maintains the church library and tracks incoming and outgoing resources (books, DVDs, CDs and video tapes). We organize the resources of the library in an accessible way for our youth and congregation to use. If you have a love of reading, we would love to have you join our library team. We meet monthly, but we try to be responsible for all the maintenance and upkeep of a well-stocked library on a regular basis. Your time commitment is up to you. The adventures await you in the library.
Areas Where Help is Needed
- Circulation - Shelving returned materials and organizing the resources on the shelves
- Processing – Reviewing and preparing new items, repairing damaged materials
- Computer – New resource entry and label printing, entering resources checked out/in
- Book Sales – Every fall we host a book sale to place resources in the hands of our community and to place new resources in our library. The time commitment for this opportunity consists of two Sunday mornings.
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others...” ~ 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)
Resources: National Church Library Association
