Library Update September 2004

We are reorganizing the library to accomplish three goals: make the library more accessible to Meeting, highlight the books by Penn Valley- writers, and make room for more resources to support Quaker education. Within the Quaker section, the library will now distinguish separate subsections for Quaker history, Quaker spirituality and worship materials, Quaker biographies and journals, Quaker philosophy and process, and annual Quaker publications like yearly meeting minutes, organizational reports, and lists like Traveling Friends. Soon we will purchase resources which support and further inform our Meeting's study of Quaker history.

Did you know that our library has copies of several of the William Penn Lectures from many years ago? Look for the 1956 lecture, The Joy That is Set Before Us, by Elise Boulding, and the 1948 lecture, In Apprehension How Like A God, by Bayard Rustin.

In August, the library acquired a copy of Friends for 350 Years, a recently updated version of Friends for 300 Years by Howard Brinton. The new version contains historical updates and notes by Margaret Hope Bacon and was published by Pendle Hill Publications in 2002. Friends for 300 Years was first published in 1965 and has had 11 printings.

Margaret Hope Bacon views Brinton's book as a timeless classic, yet she knew that the changes of the last 50 years needed to be considered. These changes include: a marked rise in Quaker scholarship, revised and more inclusive language, and the world-wide effort of Quakers to come together as a religious society inclusive of all Quakers.

She recounts an excellent biographical sketch of Howard Brinton, who died in 1973, at the beginning of the book. The language of the book is fresher and the historical perspective on the roots of original Quakerism is certainly different than Brinton suggested. More journal entries from men and women are included. And she reminds the reader that soon the majority of Quakers will live in places which are often referred to as the "third world." Can you imagine what stories will be told one day in Friends for 400 Years?

By Donnie Morehouse

Note: The library has Iowa Yearly Meeting Minutes for many years past. The earliest is from 1965. However, we are missing minutes from some years. If you have copies of the IYM minutes from the years we are missing and would like to donate them to the library, please contact Marc or Donnie. The library does not have IYM Minutes for 1966 through 1974; 1984; 1991; and 1992.