Meeting Libraries and Records

Giving professional advice and guidance on Quaker archives and records, and meeting libraries are the responsibilities of the Library Committee of Quaker Life and the staff of Friends House Library.

Guidance for Meeting Librarians

The Library at Friends House has produced a series of guides to help Friends run the meeting library:

• Job of the Meeting Librarian [Word: 339kb - new window]
• Selection and acquisition of stock [Word: 366kb - new window]
• Cataloguing and arranging the meeting library [Word: 151kb -new window]
• Equipment for a meeting library [Word: 137kb - new window]
• Disposing of unwanted books [Word: 352kb - new window]
• Caring for your books [Word: 129kb - new window]
• Promoting the meeting library [Word: 93kb - new window]
• Web Resources for Meeting Librarians [Word: 173kb - new window]

For further information, see the Support for Meetings section of the Library pages.

Meetings' records

If you look after your meeting's records and archives, the Library Committee has published 'Your Meeting's Records: a handbook for clerks and custodians of records'. The handbook

• sets out the responsibilities of Clerks and custodians for the good stewardship of records;
• outlines good practice on the creation, care and preservation of records;
• gives practical advice on what materials to use when creating records, which records should be kept, how to care for them and keep them safe and secure.

Copies are available from the Quaker Bookshop.

Your Meeting's Records: a handbook for clerks and custodians of records. 2nd edition. Quaker Books, 2004. ISBN: 0 85245 363 9. Price £8.00.

Please note this handbook replaces the 1989 edition and the 1999 leaflet 'Paper/Files/Records/Archives', both of which are now obsolete.

The staff at Friends House Library can also advise on matters relating to meetings' records and meeting libraries. Contact: The Library, tel: 020 7663 1135; email:library@quaker.org.uk. Friends House, Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ