Go To Online Catalog

Mission
The CPC Library is committed to serving the congregation by providing resources for education and edification that may not otherwise be readily available from other sources. Recommendations and suggestions may be made to the librarian at library@columbiapres.org.

Location
The library is located downstairs in the main building, in Room 106. Coming down the stairs, it is straight down the hallway, past the community room and the music room, on the left.

Function
The library is “self-service” and is available for use each weekday during church office hours, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Access may be made by contacting the office and having them “buzz you in.” In addition, it will be open each Sunday morning from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. and then again from 11:45 - 12:15, after the morning worship service. If demand warrants, and we have the volunteers to provide additional access, it may also become available on selected weekday evenings.

Book Arrangement
The books are arranged into five sections: adult non-fiction, adult fiction, Easy readers ( non-fiction, fiction), Juniors (non-fiction, fiction) and Young Adult (non-fiction, fiction). Labels have been added to the shelves to help locate each section.

In addition, the adult non-fiction section has subject labels to help in browsing the collection for specific areas of interest – Bible study aids, Christian Doctrine, Devotional Literature, Christian Life, Church Practice, Missions, Biography, and Church History. A display in the library gives a more complete breakdown by Dewey Decimal number.

The audio visual collections have not yet been relocated to the new location. They are under review, as most of the AV resources are in outdated formats. Selected materials will be moved from the old library in the Potter's House to the new location as they are reviewed for content and format type.

Online Catalog Searching Tips
Besides the new area, the library now has an Online Catalog. The collection may be searched from anywhere you have Internet access. Here are some search tips:

“find any word”    – The search results will include any of the words (or words that contain them).
Think of the words being connected by “OR”.

Example: the search “God man” could return the following: “God and Man at Yale”, “Godly men”, “Godliness through discipline” and “Man’s best friend”.

“find all words”    – The search results will include all the search words (or words that contain them).
Think of the words being connect by “AND”.

Example: the search “God man” could return the following: “God and Man at Yale”, “Disciplines of a godly man” but not “Godliness through discipline”.

“match phrase”    – The search results will include the entire phrase (or phrase that it contains).
Think of the words being connected by “AND” , plus in the exact order, with no other words in between those words.

Example: “God’s Word” will return “God’s words” but not “God’s holy Word” or “Word of God”.

By checking the “whole word match”  box, the search will only return results where the word or words or entire phrase are EXACTLY as entered. This will eliminate partial matches of words.

2) Decide which field to search: Choices are author, title, subject, publisher, ISBN, or call number.

The ISBN is the “International Standard Book Number” and uniquely identifies a particular edition of any book. The first part of the number identifies the publisher, the last part identifies the title.

The call number is the Dewy Decimal number used to shelve the books. Searching using this is similar to a subject search, as it will find books in a given area on the shelf.

Once results are displayed, you may want to return and modify the search. You can go back by clicking the [Search] button at the top of the results page.

A further option is to search by more than one criterion at a time. For this, click the “Advanced Search Screen” link in the upper right hand corner. Here, you can search for the same 6 fields, but more than one at a time, such as author and title, or author and publisher. The same choices as to words and phrases are also available from here. Click “Basic Search Screen” to toggle back to the first screen.

One further word on finding an item: the online catalog DOES NOT display the status of a resource – e.g. whether it is on the shelf, or checked out. If there is an item you find in the catalog, but in searching the library, do not find it on the shelf, please make a request for a recall by emailing the church librarian at library@columbiapres.org.

Checking Out
To check out a resource, at the present time we are still using a card system, not the online catalog. On the item you wish to check out, look for the book card in the back. Fill in the date (month/ day/year) and your name on the book card and drop it into the small white box on the shelf next to the Book Return.

To return items, simply drop them off in the “Book Return” box.

Questions?
See Marti Stum on most Sunday mornings in the library before the worship service, or email at library@columbiapres.org.