Baha’i Resources in Public Libraries
“Sitting in a chair in a solitary corner” while reading is praised in the Bahá'í Faith as an excellent way to be receptive to truth.
“All I am asking of you, I told Ari, or of anyone who reads scripture, is that they read it as they would any document from which they wanted to extract information and meaning and come to an understanding of the ideas being presented without pre-judging it. The Baha’i teachings spell this out by naming it as their initial principle:
“The first is the independent investigation of truth; for blind imitation of the past will stunt the mind. But once every soul inquireth into truth, society will be freed from the darkness of continually repeating the past.”
Read the article: Reading Religion for Understanding: Independent Truth-Seeking by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff | Dec 30, 2024
Our local public libraries have many Bahá'í materials to offer! Here are some of the authoritative and accurate items, from reputable publishers such as the Bahá'í Publishing Trust. See a full selection of materials from the Bahá'í Publishing Trust:
https://www.bahaibookstore.com/
Core sacred texts of the Faith are in bold text below.
Camas Public Library
God speaks again: an introduction to the Baha'i Faith, Bowers, Kenneth
Clackamas County Library System:
Selected Writings of Baháʼuʼlláh
The Divine art of living: selections from the writings of Baha'u'llah and `Abdu'l-Baha
Abraham: one God, three wives, five religions, Worthington, Frances
Bahá'u'lláh and the new era: an introduction to the Bahá'í faith, Esslemont, J.E.
God speaks again: an introduction to the Baha'i Faith, Bowers, Kenneth
Longing: stories of racial healing, Unterschuetz, Phyllis A.
The Baha'i faith: a short introduction, Momen, Moojan
The Baha'i faith: the emerging global religion, Hatcher, William S.
The gate [DVD]: dawn of the Baha'i faith
Thief in the night: or, The strange case of the missing millennium, Sears, William
Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries:
Bahá'í Basics: a Guide to the Beliefs, Practices, and History of the Bahá'í Faith, Worthington, Frances.
Light of the Kingdom: Biblical topics in the Bahá'í Writings, Borovicka, JoAnn
The gate [DVD]: dawn of the Baha'i faith
Multnomah County Library System:
Gleanings From the Writings of Baháʼuʼlláh
Selected Writings of Baháʼuʼlláh
The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah
The Bahá'í Faith: the Emerging Global Religion, Hatcher, William S.
The Baha'i Faith in Words and Images, Danesh, John
Baha'i Faith, the Basics, eBook, 2020, Buck, Christopher
The Challenge of Baháʼuʼlláh, Matthews, Gary L.
Equality for Women = Prosperity for All: the Disastrous Global Crisis of Gender Inequality, López-Claros, Augusto
No Jim Crow Church: The Origins of South Carolina's Bahá'í Community, eBook, 2015, Venters, Louis
Lights of the Spirit: Historical Portraits of Black Bahá'ís in North America, 1898-2000
Understanding Death, the Most Important Event of Your Life, Hatcher, John S.
Washington County Library System:
Gleanings From the Writings of Baháʼuʼlláh
Selected Writings of Baháʼuʼlláh
Some Answered Questions, ʻAbduʼl-Bahá
The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá During His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912
Bahá'í Basics: a Guide to the Beliefs, Practices, and History of the Bahá'í Faith, Worthington, Frances
The Bahá'í Faith: the Emerging Global Religion, Hatcher, William S.
The Baha'i Faith in America, Garlington, William
Light of the Kingdom: Biblical Topics in the Baha'i Writings, Borovicka, JoAnn
Close Connections: the Bridge Between Spiritual and Physical Reality, Hatcher, John S.
Life, Death, and Immortality: the Journey of the Soul
You Are a Cosmic Tree: Baha'i-Inspired Art & Reflections on the Life of the Soul, Blaise, Misha Maynerick
Beyond the Culture of Contest: From Adversarialism to Mutualism in An Age of Interdependence, Karlberg, Michael
Equality for Women = Prosperity for All: the Disastrous Global Crisis of Gender Inequality, López-Claros, Augusto
Equality for Women = Prosperity for All, Nakhjavani, Bahiyyih e-book
No Jim Crow Church: the Origins of South Carolina's Bahá'í Community, Venters, Louis
The Persian: a Historical Novel Set in Victorian England and Persia, Babb, Kathleen Hite
Three biographies for young readers:
Robert Sengstacke Abbott: a Man, a Paper, and a Parade, Engle, Susan
Richard St. Barbe Baker: Child of the Trees, Hanley, Paul
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie: a Man, a Trumpet, and a Journey to Bebop, Engle, Susan
बहाउल्लाह के निगूढ़ वचन Baháʼuʼlláh ke nigudh vacana, The Hidden Words, Baháʼuʼlláh, (Hindi)
बहाउल्लाह के पावन लेखों से चयन Bahá'u'lláh ke pāvana laharoṃ se cayana बहाउल्लाह Gleanings from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh (Hindi)
किताब-ए-ईक़ान (सम्पूर्ण आरथा की पुस्तक) : धर्म की प्रकृति और उद्देश्य की एक दिव्य विवेचना
Kitāba-e-Īqāna (sampūrṇa āsthā kī pustaka): dharma kī prakr̥ti aura uddeśya kī eka divya vivecanā Kitāb-i īqān Baháʼuʼlláh (Hindi)
बहाई धर्म एक परिचय The Baháʼí faith: an introduction, Faizi, Gloria (Hindi)
If you don’t see something that you’d like to check out, you may request a purchase by your local library, or request an inter-library loan from another area. Ask your local library about getting cards for the other local counties. The more these items are checked out, the more likely the libraries are to purchase more.