Lorinda Newton

By Lorinda Newton
Washington, USA

I grew up in a house with many books, and my mom often took us to the newly built local public library. I loved attending the children’s library programs, and as a preschooler, I decided I wanted to become a librarian when I grew up.

While kids played outside during recess, I often stayed in the library to read. I asked for the Little  House on the Prairie books for birthday and Christmas gifts. I eagerly pored over the Scholastic book  catalogs and attended school book fairs in elementary school. During the summer, I’d built a tent in the  backyard to read in—I was outside! By high school, my bedroom shelves had fewer knickknacks and  more books. In college, I majored in English literature, and after graduation, I worked for two years in a Christian bookstore doing data entry and book inventory.

The Newton Family Library Is Born

The Newton Family Library began when two bibliophiles, Doug and I, married in 1991. Even though  Doug double majored in mathematics and computer science, he also owned several Christian books,  biblical reference works, and a collection of science fiction. When our son reached school age in 2004, Doug arranged our books using a simplified version of the  Library of Congress system. He learned this system when he worked at the Seattle Pacific University  library during college. Both of us have some experience working in church libraries. So, organizing a library came to us  naturally. Our book collection filled one bedroom wall of shelves before we began homeschooling. By the time  we moved to Whidbey Island in 2014, we had ten overflowing bookcases in our schoolroom, plus  books in our office spaces and bedrooms.

Cataloging with a Library Database

Around 2009, a homeschool mom told me about LibraryThing.com, which she used to inventory her books. As a homeschooler who often browsed used bookstores and garage sales, I sometimes bought a book only to find out later we already own a copy. Having my book collection in an online database allows me to check it on my phone before accidentally buying a duplicate.

Using a Library Cat

Realizing that my homeschooling career was soon to end when our son graduated in 2018, and our daughter would graduate in 2022, I decided to become a homeschool mentor and librarian. So, I joined the Tinycat library service that LibraryThing offers to small libraries. Through my Tinycat website, Newton Family Library, people can access my library database and request to borrow a resource

Newton Books from A to Z

  1. General works such as dictionaries
  2. Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion
  3. Biographies A large selection of juvenile and adult-level biographies with a focus on missionary biographies. This includes 25 YWAM “Christian Heroes Then & Now” titles.
  4. World History**: **mostly books about Western Civilization but also some on the Eastern  Hemisphere.
  5. US History:** **includes titles that focus on how Christianity shaped American history.
  6. State History:** **mostly Washington state.
  7. Geography, Anthropology, and Recreation
  8. Social Sciences
  9. The LoC doesn’t use this letter.
  10. Political Science and US Government
  11. Law
  12. Education
  13. Music
  14. Fine Arts
  15. The LoC doesn’t use this letter.
  16. Language and Literature
  17. Sciences - Homeschool science - Mathematics & Computer Science: mostly my husband’s books. - Creation Science books and textbooks, published mainly by Answers in Genesis.
  18. Medicine: a handful of health books
  19. Agriculture: gardening and animal care.
  20. Technology
    • Children’s books on machines and manufacturing
    • Home economics: cooking and sewing

Many of these collections contain children’s and juvenile books but not all.

Take a look at Newton Family Library and find something that interests you. Please subscribe to my Newton Library Update Substack newsletter to read upcoming collection reviews.