• Bear Creek United Methodist
• Champion Forest Baptist Church
• Chapelwood United Methodist
• Cypress United Methodist
• First Baptist of Richmond
• Parkgate Community
• Tallowood Baptist

Steady growth of the library over the years has necessitated many renovations and four major moves of the library. The original library consisted of one book on one shelf in the office of the Minister of Education. Shortly thereafter, the library consumed his entire office, and then all of the church office area. When renovations in that area defied logic, CFBC decided to build a new library from the ground up in a logical, library-by-design area. That “new” library soon outgrew its walls, and renovations were done to enlarge the “new” library for expanded library services and programs. That second edition of the library served the church well until the church itself outgrew its 9 acres in the Greenwood Forest subdivision.

Library move #3 came when the church bought 54 acres on Stuebner-Airline, and the library moved its now 16,000 books to a 2,400 sq. ft. temporary location on the second floor of the Administration building. It was challenging to operate our active program in those tight quarters, but we always referred to ourselves as happy sardines! Finally, a year and a half later, we made the fourth major to the “final” 3,600 sq. ft. library located in the main corridor of the church with 18,000 items.

“Final” is always a humorous term at Champion Forest. By 2008, the library had some 31,000 items and was again challengingly “crowded.” The Building Committee determined that the library needed to be expanded to meet the challenges of a growing church and library ministry. They decided to add more than 3,000 sq. ft. to the existing library. However, that much renovation to the library area meant that the library had to be relocated to a large hallway near the gymnasium while the renovation took place. Although large for a hallway, that 1,600 sq. ft. had to hold all of the library shelves and materials, causing us to revisit the term “happy sardines.” The library office took over the large ladies’ restroom, and all of the library furniture other than bookshelves was stored in the men’s restroom. Incredibly, the 18-inch wide aisles did not stop library use. Despite the small space, library circulation stayed about normal. That taught us all a huge lesson that if you provide what patrons need, they will come despite hard-to-imagine circumstances. The library occupied the hallway from January through October of 2009. On November 1, 2009, the library was moved back into the renovated space of over 6,700 sq. ft.

Opening day for the newly renovated library was pretty unusual. Our sanctuary has large screens to help communicate information to our members. After the worship service began that morning, a camera crew showed the pastor in the library as he told about the renovations, and then made his way down the main hallway where he walked through the also new atrium area, and then live into the sanctuary to join the service. In more than 30 years of library moves and openings, that was by far the most exciting opening day experience, and was advertising that you just can’t pay money for! Alrene and Jane followed the pastor into the worship service, and after his discussion of how the library has been a significant ministry in the church, he called us to the stage and prayed for the library and for all of the library workers.

Another area of growth for us, that fortunately does not require physical space, is in digital media. In October of 2012, the church budget included money to begin a Digital Library for e-books, e-audio books, and digital music. Although our original library began with only one book, the digital library began with 364 digital items, and has grown to over 2,500.