The library is my favorite room at Shiloh.  It is spacious, beautifully decorated, and most importantly, the walls are lined with lovely bookshelves.  Bookshelves that house 2,000 books.  Books in French.  But mostly books in English. Such rich treasures can be found in the library. It draws many of our guests.  They are frequently found with their noses buried in books.  The library is entered through an archway.  With no door, it is open 24 hours a day.

But libraries don't run themselves.  All those books being taken off the shelves need to be re-shelved in the right place, or soon chaos reigns supreme.  By virtue of being the only member of the Shiloh with limited library training and experience, I am the librarian.  Back in the early days I used to get so frustrated when people shoved books back on any old shelf.  It took me quite a while to figure out that books out of order are books that have been read.  Frustration turned to delight as I realized just how many books are being read.  

Once a year I do a massive inventory of all our books.  At the end of this 4-5 day process, I discover just how many books we have lost.  For years our annual loss ranged from 12-15 books.  Suddenly last year that all changed.  For some unknown reason we only lost eight books, and we were grateful.  I'm at the end of day two of this years inventory.  It's way to soon to tell how many books have grown little feet and walked out this gate this time around.

Somehow, in spite of all the theft of books here at Shiloh, our library has grown, and grown, and grown.  We receive many donations.  In fact we finally had to start giving them away ourselves when we ran out of room for more books.  This is the reason why we aren't overly upset when books disappear.  God always provides.  He is so faithful..