Theological Libraries and Scholarly Publishing in Religion and Theology

Abstract

Theological libraries and scholarly publishing in religion and theology operate within multiple overlapping contexts and economic markets: faith communities, theological education, scholars, libraries, and publishing. This paper will complete an analysis of available religious publishing and theological library purchasing trends in order to create a thicker description of the system of scholarly communication. Even allowing for degrees of uncertainty in the data presented, there remains a significant disconnect in the rising collective costs for publishing versus the declining expenditures among theological libraries. The trend appears to be that the average theological library is purchasing a declining portion of the scholarship. The evidence may suggest an increasingly unsustainable market.