Guild Library
 

Do you use your guild library? If so why or why not. If you are the librarian for your guild, do you keep magazines or other non-quilting books in the collection? Thanks for any response.

My guild's library is used by quite a few members. It contains quilt books and a few other quilt related items. Its great to be able to not have to buy a book for a single pattern you want to do. Also great just to check out and browse. I am not the librarian and appreciate all the effort put into keeping the library current. Periodically unchecked out books are pulled and sold to members at a very reduced price and used to buy new books.

As a follow-up question: if your guild has a library, where are the books/magazines kept between meetings? Thank you!

pchp, the books are kept in a locked cabinet at the recreation center where our meetings a held monthly. The reason for my question is because the cabinet is limited and the rec center does not want to allow more space for a larger cabinet. Also, few members use the library because they don't see, feel and touch the books for inspiration. Purchasing a book for just one pattern I agree is expensive. While some books have techniques explained, you can always invest in a well rounded technical book on quilting and borrow your guild library books for patterns. Am trying to find a happy balance.

My old guild had a glorious library, and I used it all the time. There were lots of books, as well as some specialty rulers, templates, and a computer with EQ and a couple other quilt programs loaded on it. We had a our own room (shared with the building manager, but he didn't disturb our stuff!), so it didn't have to be packed up at the end of each meeting.

Are you the librarian? Our librarian would "present" a few books at each meeting. Sometimes they were new ones, but often they were just picked from the library. She would talk about what you could find in each one, and pass them around for people to see. This really encouraged people to use the books.

We also had a "library challenge" each year. At the May meeting, if you had made a quilt from a book in the previous year you could enter by showing the quilt and saying what book you had used. All participants were then entered in a draw for a prize. It was fun to see what people had done with the books!

Edit to add: For magazines, we had a subscription to Canadian Quilter which was kept permanently. There was a sharing table for magazines donated by members; you could take them home and enjoy them, then return them (or not) as you wished. They weren't catalogued or checked in/out. If space had been limited, I suspect we wouldn't have done magazines.

Before I moved, I occasionally used the libraries of two guilds, usually to preview books that I might want to purchase.
I think my new guild has a library, but I don't know how big it is or how to check out the books. I know that they occasionally sell books that were donated during the meetings, and I sometimes buy those. At this point I have way too many quilting books and am trying to go on a book diet, as well as a fabric diet.

I don’t use the guild’s resource library because I can access most things on YouTube. Plus I’d rather socialize than look over what’s available.

What a great idea to have specialty rulers and templates, too.!

The guild I belonged to when I lived in Ontario had a very large library. I was one of the librarians, there were 3 of us. We had an annual budget. All the books were quilt related, but we tried to cover all topics, new trends, etc. We would ask members for book suggestions as well. The books were stored at the head librarian’s house, we had to lug the books to the meetings every 2 weeks - a big task and we rotated what we would bring as there was just too much setup involved to bring the entire library. Once a year we would sell off books that were dormant.

I agree that having specialty rulers/templates would be a great addition to any guild library!

Thank you, deriz56, for the information. I belong to two guilds, and I don't think either one has a library. I don't know whether it's due to a lack of space or to lack of interest. I'll probably ask at some point. I'm glad you brought this up.

The larger MQG I belong to have a nice library, I attended a different traditional guilds meeting and they have an extensive library. It covered 6-8 banquet tables with the books overlapping. My schedule means I cannot be sure I can return a book, so I do not take any out.

Even in these days of the internet, I believe there is a place for a guild library. Not everyone has good internet access or the skills to find what they need. I relax when I read a book, I do not relax when I read online.

Edited to add, we have a librarian, there is a fine ($5?) for not returning a book on time. Those funds are used to buy new books. There is a sign out procedure, members cannot just take a book. I do not know where the books are stored, the guild moved meeting halls, and I have not been able attend any meetings since the move.

My Guild has 4 large lockable bookcases for books and instructional cd's. Even videos of some larger quilt shows. I love to look thru it before meetings since I am usually early. Yes, I check out books frequently and it's only 25 cents if you miss next month. We have a good librarian that culls out old books that don't get checked out often or when the cabinets are too full. She stays away from patterns with special rulers. All it takes is someone not bringing back the ruler and the book is worthless. It is a great resource but I believe the Guild pays extra for storage at our facility.

[QUOTE=Jennifer23;8004892]
Are you the librarian? Our librarian would "present" a few books at each meeting. Sometimes they were new ones, but often they were just picked from the library. She would talk about what you could find in each one, and pass them around for people to see. This really encouraged people to use the books.

What a great idea!

When our guild was formed we decided to NOT have a library but to donate books to the local public library. This has worked very well for many years. No one has to store books or keep track of them or bring them to meetings. The local library is part of a larger library system so they are available to anyone with a library card.

I really enjoy using my guild library. I like previewing books I may want to buy, but especially like having it as a resource so I don’t feel a need to buy so many books. We include some quilting related novels too. When I have trouble sleeping I read a quilt book to relax and take my mind off whatever is bugging me. It helps me fall back asleep. We pay a church for the use of their building for our meeting and two workshop days each month. The dependable income helps the church and they allow us use of a locked walk in closet with shelves for our library. We lost books on the lower shelves to flooding in Hurricane Harvey. They were many of our newer books. We will eventually rebuild the collection. As members donate their used magazines they are sold to others for a quarter. That money is used for more books. We have a fine if the book is not returned, but it can be rechecked just by asking the librarian, even by phone or email. Our guild is large. We had about 90-100 members at our last meeting. I think a guild library is a real treat!

I belong to 2 guilds and both have a library that is very popular along with librarians to manage and organize everything. Books are stored and locked in large closets/lockers at the meeting hall and are placed on banquet tables during the monthly meeting for members to look through. Books must be signed out and signed in when returned.

The librarians work very hard categorizing and keeping track of where the books are and both guilds have a "master book list" with all books registered and listed by author and by name so it is easy to see if the library has a particular book that you may want to use.
The volunteers do have an occasional sell-off to members of books that are not frequently used or those that need replacing. These funds are added to their yearly budget that is allotted by the guild for new books. They also receive donations from members of books or $.

I like to check out the new books/patterns and have found lots of great ideas by taking a few home. Many of the books are also used by those that participate with the "comfort" quilts group - these quilts are donated to groups in need in the area. Each year each guild gives at least 250 - 300 quilts a year.

My guild stores their books on 2 purchased library carts. I have used them many times. The school where we hold meetings is kind enough to store them and the custodian is kind enough to bring them out for us. A list of all titles is available on the internet
so everyone can see what the library owns before they might buy. I am a heavy internet user but still prefer the ease of using a pattern from a book. We have quilting books, novels, DVD's and some templates. Our current librarian has done a great job of organizing so we can find what we are looking for. BTW we always remember the custodiians at Christmas time and during our twice yearly "banquets".

My guild did away with its library a couple of years ago. Storeage was a real problem. Last year we had a "garage sale"; individuals rented a table for a nominal fee and could sell good quilting/sewing items that they no longer wanted. There was also a general guild table to which members could donate things to be sold for the benefit of the guild. Many patterns and books were sold.