Small Libraries
Members Present
- Elli Cucksey, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Convenor
- Ericka Raber, Wartburg Theological Seminary
- Winette Field, William Booth College
- Vance Thomas, University of Dubuque, Atla Board Representative
- Karen Adjei, Atla Staff Liaison
Agenda
- The group introduced themselves and discussed their institutions in the round robin reports.
- Vance Thomas, on behalf of the Atla Board of Directors, brought some questions to the group looking for feedback on the core values.
- The group contemplated recruitment, mentoring, and the possibility of both a fall meeting and presenting at the next Atla Annual conference. A suggestion was made to create a panel of small library librarians.
Round Robin Reports
Winette Field: Winette is a solo librarian in the UK in London. The college is starting a new two-year ministerial course, in addition to other degree changes. There have been many changes in general: new business models, different types of students, new leadership, younger leadership, etc. A big win was the purchase of a new scanner, which was a joint project with the Heritage Center.
Ericka Raber: Ericka is in her second year as the Library Director and solo librarian. She has some support staff, but they do not have a background in libraries, so she has been working on training, which takes time.
Elli Cucksey: The university has experienced a lot of turnover. They hired a new president and the provost and one of the vice presidents are leaving. The dean at the seminary is retiring. These changes bring stress but also excitement for potential opportunities and trying new things.
Vance Thomas: The university’s new president started last year. They received a large grant for a new College of Medicine, so he has been working on a list of relevant research topic areas to try to bring the seminary and the new program together. There is a new dean starting for the College of Medicine and a new vice president for academic affairs.
Core Values Discussion
Vance Thomas presented the group with the core values and some questions about the values, seeking feedback to bring to the next board meeting.
The group discussed the values and questions and noted that each of the values are still relevant and important. A note was made that they can apply to all libraries and that something could be added specifically for theological libraries. The concept of hospitality was discussed in relation to theological libraries, and a note was made that the values could highlight leadership: fostering leadership or serving as leaders in the field of librarianship. There was also discussion of the unseen work and labor of librarians, leading the group to consider the words advocacy and championing, as they relate to service. Elli noted that hospitality paired with inclusion and diversity is important and others noted that the librarians themselves are missing–the context is more about the collections and services offered, but it could be useful to add something about library staff. A point was made that the association covers and is open to a wide range of individuals, not just people with theological librarianship positions–Atla welcomes archivists, individuals, scholars, chaplains, etc. There was also discussion of the work Atla staff has been doing to create and share information and resources and that the group would like to see more of this work.
Other
Books recommended as resources for interest group members: Lucy Roper’s The Solo Librarian and Helen Rimmer’s The Kind Librarian.