Anabaptist/Mennonite

Jennifer Ulrich, Eastern Mennonite University

Members Present

• Jennifer Ulrich, Eastern Mennonite University
• Eileen Saner, Retired, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary
• Vic Froese, Canadian Mennonite University
• Tim Erdel, Retired, Missionary Church Archives & Historical Collections
• Evan Kuehn, North Park University, Atla Board of Directors Representative

Members Absent

• Karl Stutzman, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary

Agenda

1. Round Robin Reports
2. Core Values Discussion

Round Robin Reports

Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary: Karl Stutzman is stepping down as Director of Library Services and has accepted the Director position at Milford (IN) Public Library. Lisa Guedea Carreño begins on July 1 as Interim Director of Library Services alongside Resource Access Librarian Kajsa Herrstrom. The library is closing the bookstore it has been operating since 2017, and the library’s writing services are moving forward in partnership with Information Technology on an institutional subscription to Grammarly for Education. The library continues to invest heavily in electronic resources to support growing distance and global programs. Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) is planning to move to the Koha integrated library system, so AMBS is preparing for data migration and workflow changes in the near future.

Bethel University (IN), Missionary Church Archives & Historical Collation: Tim is retired but continues to work with the Missionary Church Archives & Historical Collection. Bethel is seeing decreasing numbers of students. The new president of the Missionary Church, Rodney Arnold, has been using the archives to get a good overview of the Missionary Church’s history and mission.

Canadian Mennonite University: Vic is working on projects and planning for succession, as he has been at CMU for 25 years. The Mennonite Brethren Seminary that CMU has been closely affiliated with is doing more work at the congregational level, and there are fewer students majoring in Bible and Religion. CMU has launched a social work major. The Mennonite Heritage Archives is busy with a lot of genealogy research.

Eastern Mennonite University: Director of Libraries, Marci Frederick, passed away on August 24, 2024, from cancer. Jennifer Ulrich served as interim until she was appointed Director of Libraries in March 2025. The library’s longtime office coordinator retired at the end of June and Leah Huyard will begin this role in July. The library continues its reclassification project from DDC to LC. The Seminary is starting a DMin in Peacebuilding and Social Change with students starting in August 2025. EMU has closed some programs and is reimagining its undergraduate curriculum. The library reviewed its subscriptions and will cut some databases and journals. The Director of Libraries is the bookstore liaison for EMU. Dr. Rev. Shannon Dycus began serving as Interim President July 1, 2025.

Other

Evan Kuehn, Atla Board of Directors member from North Park University, shared Atla’s core values and asked for feedback with some guiding questions. We discussed these questions briefly.