From Michelle Howard of Children’s Preservation Library in Michigan and Living Learning Libraries in Florida. Check out Michelle’s Plumfield Moms podcast interview here. Michelle’s website is a treasure trove of library resources.

So you’re starting a “living books” library, or prayerfully considering such a decision! Wonderful! It might surprise you to know how great is the need. It came as a surprise to me, anyway!

You see, years ago, someone began taking me to yard sales because our finances were so tight. What caught my eye? Books! I soon had a nice little clutch for my new home-education endeavor. Word of my search got out to those seeking worthwhile/wholesome resources (whether or not they home-educated), and the Lord opened various resources.

Even though my two sons loved them, and these books opened more intriguing methods of home education, I still wasn’t sure why I was buying so many…or how I was affording it on my extremely limited means. But book-buying money always appeared miraculously, exactly when books became available, so I knew it was the Lord’s special provision. Either a mini-windfall would come in, or someone would buy a large batch of extra books I had for sale at a little mark-up to fund our acquisitions.  

The doors kept opening, so I could sense that a God-thing was underway. But what? Someone suggested I make these books into a library for other families to also enjoy, but I (regretfully) scoffed. “Why would anyone drive past a vast (and free) public library to come to my home for a smaller number of books?” (There was no such thing as a “living books library” then.) “That makes no sense!” I assumed. “These books must be just for my kids.”

When a former friend moved to a new city, and, because I had, by immersion, learned which books/authors captured my sons’ attention and proffered worthy content, she asked me to help her locate the best books for their next topic of study (Ancient Rome) at the large public library in her new area. This is where the story begins in earnest, for to my total shock and dismay, not one—not even a single one—of the quality books on Rome for young children were available! Not only were they not at the main downtown library we were visiting, they weren’t available anywhere in her entire county system! The light bulb lit up in my heart!

You see, I had always blithely assumed that public libraries were “the archives of all that is good in literature.” Whatever was good they would hold forever, so unending generations could also enjoy. Was I ever wrong!

In fact, at this same time, I was completing my college degree, and my senior mega-project was on children’s literature and library science. I was reading the top textbooks used to train librarians, and it was quite clear that my “archive” theory had long been dismissed. The textbooks instead instructed librarians to offer whatever is current, whatever is popular at the local bookstore, all so the masses can enjoy it. Specifically, fiction books should never be kept for more than five years, and non-fiction should never be kept more than two years to avoid (supposed) obsolescence.

The gems about ancient Rome which I was seeking in that large county library were from what proliferated during what I’ve heard called the “Golden Age of Children’s Literature,” the 1930s-early 1970s. Those Golden Age literary treasures (“living books”) apparently did not qualify under the new regime!

I did not yet have a functioning library. Only a small percentage of my budding book collection (which I originally thought was just for my boys) could fit onto my tiny bookcase, but still the books came pouring in. Soon, boxes of books filled the laundry room from floor to ceiling, leaving only a narrow path to the washer. What was I going to do with these books, I continued to wonder, as I also continued to pooh-pooh the idea of opening a library. But more friends began to hear about my books, and wanted their children/teens to enjoy them also. Without a place to display them, though, we were all stuck.

One day, though, as you probably already guessed, when my little house couldn’t hold another book, the phone rang. A friend with a very large home was going on a one-year trip. Would I want to move into their place, and use their front rooms for a library? Somehow, I was just crazy enough to say yes, because it was a good situation all the way around. Twelve days later, my tiny house was up for sale, and we were already moved into their home. I opened the “library” right away, even though it was mostly stacks of books leaning against the walls and in boxes, because the 24 families who quickly paid to be members couldn’t wait to dig in! We all laughed at the adventure! Sorting through 5,000 or 6,000 as-yet-unlabelled books was quite a scavenger hunt!

Right away, though, many came for work-bees, as I began inputting the books into a database, to create labels and perform detailed searches. Together, we stickered the books, laminated the paperbacks, and put mylar covers on the dust jackets. We added to each book a card pocket and labeled the bookcards themselves. We could now “check out” the gems. It was a blast! (Later, I would use barcodes, not bookcards and pockets, but barcodes didn’t exist when we first opened.)

The creation of the database was a huge challenge, though. We estimate that it took me about sixteen months of 80-hour weeks just to build the initial database, and I have added to it each time a new book arrives, with probably over 30,000 man-hours into the database now.  To save you the same huge time investment, you can, if you wish, use this living books database I built, which also includes full library lending functionality. You will save yourself years of work, and the database contains not only the basic title and author info, but also has the precise Dewey Decimal number (for printing our labels), has a description of the book, and contains a subject list (where pertinent) that especially serves parents who are trying to teach various character qualities, science, arts, and historical eras through living books.

Almost 30 years into this (as I revisit this post), we’ve since added thousands more books per year.  Now that we’ve reached the mark of 36,000 books at the Florida branch and 21,000 at the original Michigan branch, we don’t usually find books we don’t already own. However, the library was still wanted even with those first 5,000 gems I could lend, so don’t be afraid to begin small.  We all do.  Even just by offering Five-in-a-Row support totes, you are providing a great service.  I just kept adding because books kept becoming available, and I didn’t want any to slip into oblivion.  I knew they’d be held together and made accessible if in my care.

Families come from several counties around both my Michigan and Florida locations now, which specialize in biography, history, historical fiction, and science, but we seek to have coverage of all topics, so that families needn’t also drive to the public library. At least 90% of the books are out-of-print, but I also try to have the very best in-print literature as well. I’ve found that families are most motivated to invest in a membership if they needn’t also stop at the public library.

But back to the early days of the first library in Michigan . . . We began the library, as I mentioned, in our rental home, and it was really fun to have everyone come. We had open days and hours. I looked forward to it! When the landlords returned, we built a new home, with the library in mind. It occupied the walk-out (southern-exposure, thankfully) basement of about 1,000 square feet, and we popped a bathroom into it. The entrance to it was right off the mudroom, so folks didn’t have to come into the homey part of our house. They dropped shoes and coats in the mudroom, and went right downstairs. In that 1,000 square feet, you’ll be surprised to hear that we crammed in 18,000 books on 85 bookcases!  We had them in back-to-back rows, pressed about the perimeter, and even in a square around the support column. I also had a desk and a check-out table. It was cozy, but delightful. Eventually, we moved the library to a rented office space, where we are now, thanks to wonderful members and backers.  We have 1,100 square feet, so have plenty of room for our 20,000 books/videos/games/manipulatives/science supplies, etc. in the original Michigan location, and 2,000 square feet and over 36,000 books in the Florida location.

How do we pay the rent? And where did we get money for books and supplies, during the acquisition phase? Membership dues (they started at $50/year/family, but we are now at $200-$600/year/family depending on level and location), the selling of duplicate book gems, family contributions, and various fundraisers along the way, such as an annual yard sale that once provided 25% of our costs!  

Regarding various membership levels: We have a Five-in-a-Row-Support-Only level, a Basic level, and a Preferred level (which allows access to the most valuable/fragile books), and FIAR-support can be added to both Basic and Preferred. We color-code the various levels with tinted covers on our spine labels. Having the Preferred level was actually a member suggestion, as they wanted to know which treasures were most costly and expensive to replace.

As we’ve alluded, we created “totes” for each Five-in-a-Row unit. Each tote contains the highlighted book for each FIAR unit, and plenty of other books which coordinate with the topics being studied in each FIAR unit. This means that a young mother (or her hubby) can come in, grab a tub, and be all set for a week or two, if her hands are too full of babies/toddlers to take time for anything else. This makes for one-stop-shopping, and we needn’t separately re-shelve all the FIAR-topic books. Very easy. And a bit of income, because we charge a stand-alone FIAR fee (if that is all the family wants), or a lesser fee for the FIAR tubs, if that service is being added to a regular membership.

There is now a lovely team of volunteers at each location who man the library during open hours. They help the patrons and re-shelve the books. Somehow, the bills are miraculously paid for another year. It is usually a VERY close call, but it happens!

If you are just beginning to shop for books, I would encourage you to avoid paperbacks, if possible. They don’t survive circulation as well as the older hardbacks, obviously, even if you’ve added the cost/time of lamination. If you can find the “library re-bound” books, that is great. They are very sturdy!  

Eventually, you will be able to tell just by the feel, heft, smell, gentle textual layout, and warm illustrations when you’ve found a gem.  To have specific assistance in that learning process, you can use various tools: books about books! (Of course, my TruthQuest History guides themselves, especially the Booklist Appendix, will point you toward tons of great reads by historical event/person/period.)  My favorites books about books are:

Who Should We Then Read? (Volume I and II) by Jan Bloom

Books Children Love, by Elizabeth Wilson

For labeling the books, I have the Dewey Decimal number, and the first five letters of the author’s last name on the spine. My database has all this label information included, so it is just a matter of printing and affixing them. Doing so, helps you learn more about which books you have, and what they are about! That is always interesting!

The books are now labeled with a barcode, now that we have our library’s data on a web-based platform especially for libraries (OPALS). The barcode allows us to more easily know the location of all books.  And, with the web access, our patrons can browse, reserve, and renew the book database from home, if needed. I do mark out the old library’s ownership stamp, if it is a pre-owned book, and I have an ownership stamp of my own to add in its place (our library name is also on the barcode label). I also have let my local public librarians know (they are such nice folks) about the official name of my library, because people periodically return my books to the public library in error. The library staff just mails them back to me, once they see my ownership stamp.

I’ve babbled long enough, so will halt here. Hopefully, this has been of some help to you!

In Him,

Michelle Miller Howard

Children’s Preservation Library in Michigan

Living Learning Libraries in Florida.

www.LivingBooksLady.com (my librarian support site)

https://cpl-ind.narvi.opalsinfo.net (our online database/lending platform) 

livingbookslady@gmail.com

www.TruthQuestHistory.com

Mailing address: 526 W 14^th St, Suite 161, Traverse City MI  49684

This article is part of our Librarian Notices series of library stories at The Card Catalog. You can connect with us to comment on this story or any of our other library stories on our Facebook page.