All Catholics are called to tithe, to give of our time, talent, and treasure to the Church. One of the ways that our family does that is by donating books to our parish. These are available in the gathering space, free to parishioners and visitors.
As a Catholic author, I’m connected to publishers and other authors and am pretty knowledgeable about what books are being published. My husband and I are also both big readers, which certainly helps. Curating a parish library is a great way for us to use all three aspects of tithing together.
We generally stock the space every couple of months, or whenever the shelves are empty. And they get emptied pretty quickly, which isn’t surprising.
Here’s how we pick the books for our parish library.
Choose books that align with Church Doctrine and Dogma
Obviously, this is a big one. We only pick books that are thoroughly orthodox Catholic books. Checking books for imprimaturs is a great way to be sure if you’re in doubt.
Choose books for the parish library that will appeal across a range of audiences.
I always recommend choosing books you know and love first, or books that you know have been helpful and fruitful for others. If you aren’t a broad reader, check out reviews online and ask friends and family for recommendations.
Here are a few groups that you might want to consider as you pick your books:
- Families
- Children (of multiple ages)
- Caregivers (a broad group that is often in need of support and encouragement)
- both genders
Include both Shallow and Depth
No parish is a homogeneous group. Just like there are people of all ages and in all stages of life, there are parishioners of all levels of catechesis and depth of relationship with God. It’s important to include shorter, shallow entry titles (I love the Handy Guide series from Our Sunday Visitor for these) as well as books for those who are ready to go deeper and might not know how or where to start.
Rotate Your Titles
We’ve got a spreadsheet of titles that we regularly donate. There are Catholic classics that don’t ever go out of style after all. But we do rotate through our list. Firstly, because there are so very many amazing Catholic books that exist, and we can’t afford to buy them all at once. Secondly, because this keeps the titles fresh and makes it more likely that people will keep looking for their next good read.
The third reason we rotate the titles we donate is liturgical. I often let the seasons of the Church’s year guide our choices, so I’ll choose books that fit with that theme.
Getting Started
If you’ve read this far and are thinking, wow, my parish really needs a little free library, then you’re probably also wondering how to do it.
First, talk with your pastor. Explain what you’d like to do and ask the best way to go about it. It’s likely that there’s a space (or shelf or bookcase) where parishioners can access books, but your pastor might want to approve your book choices, at least the first few times.
Another reason that this is important is because he might have a theme or area of growth that he is trying to highlight within the parish. You can help by choosing books that fit that theme. For example, if your parish is gearing up to start a parish-wide consecration to Mary, in the 6 months leading up to it, you might want to purchase more Marian books to help get parishioners excited.
If you’ve got permission and are ready to go, but aren’t sure about which books to choose, you’re in luck. Here’s the list of books that my husband and I use when we purchase books. It’s not comprehensive, and I do add to it as new books are released. You can download as many copies as you like, and please feel free to share. If you’d rather not have a hard copy- here’s the whole list on Amazon.
Happy tithing!