Library News

We hope you enjoyed the faculty book raffle (Congrats again to our winners!) and the chance to share your stories in the American Theological Library Association #TLM2017 contest and hear some of our stories, too.

Follow the link below to the Theological Libraries Month guide and then be sure to check out the other research guides (LibGuides).

A selection of books about the Protestant Reformation and Martin Luther are on open display near the New Books area on the first floor or the library. We invite you to come browse and borrow them, if you haven't already!

Alumnus Frederick J. Schumacher (Class of 1978) has put together an outstanding collection of Luther-related medals and coins that represents Luther commemoration over many centuries. In honor of the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, a special physical exhibition of this collection is currently on display in Special Collections (North Wing Room 2173) and open to the public during Special Collections hours through the end of the year.

Rutgers library intern Kaitlin Montague created a digital exhibit from the collection. Kaitlin worked with Rev. Schumacher to ensure the content and images were accurate and effectively displayed. Princeton Theological Seminary Web Systems Specialist Reginald McLeod collaborated with Kaitlin to bring the dynamic exhibit online.

Research doesn't materialize in a vacuum and neither do the libraries that support it. Student workers play a vital role in the life of an academic library.

We're grateful for their creative collaboration with us and each other, and for their willingness to contribute to our mission as we seek to serve them, their classmates and instructors.

THANK YOU!

In 2016, the Princeton Theological Seminary Library joined 17 other institutions in Ithaka S+R's new study on the research needs of scholars in religion and theology. PTS librarians Kate Skrebutenas, Jenifer Gundry and Virginia Dearborn interviewed senior faculty members and wrote a report based on local findings. Alongside many similarities between national and local findings, a notable difference was the high value placed on browsing physical collections for serendipitous discovery at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Ithaka S+R is a not-for-profit research and consulting service that helps academic, cultural, and publishing communities. Support and guidance for the project was provided by the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Theological Library Association, working jointly with Ithaka S+R.

Special Collections often collaborates with faculty members to arrange class exhibits of Special Collections material, especially for various classes in the church history department at Princeton Theological Seminary. 

For example, Church History Professor Paul Rorem brought his students to the library to examine items from Special Collections including Geez-language manuscripts from Ethiopia. During the visit, the class also discussed the ministry and studies of another champion for social justice, His Holiness Abune Paulos.

Similarly, Professor Kathleen McVey's Syriac Christianity and the Rise of Islam class visited Special Collections to examine East Syriac liturgical manuscripts and codices, many of which came to the Seminary from the Mission Library of Urmia in northwest Iran.

This Open Access Week, explore the Theological Commons, an open access digital library of over 110,000 resources on theology and religion. The Theological Commons was initiated and developed by Princeton Theological Seminary, where the Digital Collections unit of the Library continues to enhance its features and expand its content.

It consists mainly of public domain books but also includes periodicals, audio recordings, photographs, manuscript collections, and other formats.

Featured collections include The Benson Collection of Hymnals and Hymnology, the Latin America Collection, the Missionary Research Library Pamphlets collection, the Moffett Korea Collection, the Payne Theological Seminary and A.M.E. Church Archive, the Princeton Theological Seminary Media Archive, and The T.F. Torrance Collection of Antiquarian Books.

Students in Prof. Sonia Waters' "The Creative Unconscious and Visual Life in Pastoral Care" class last year were challenged to create a visual Christian reflection on a pastoral care issue, whether personal or social issue. The Library then partnered with Prof. Waters, giving her space on the Concourse of the library to display the visual objects where students, faculty, staff and visitors could appreciate them. 

Each year during the summer days, churches of various denominations offer a key event of great educational value, namely the Vacation Bible School (VBS). Children look forward to this event with excitement and anticipation. Churches do a lot of preparation months ahead with the selection of directors, staff, additional volunteers for the one-week program. An important piece of this planning process is the selection of curriculum and training of volunteers to run an efficient event. There are many viable options of the VBS curricula offered each year by different publishers, and it can be a tedious and cumbersome task for the churches to decide what is the way to go. This is where the Princeton Theological Seminary Library plays a vital role in bringing the publisher and the churches together and offering a training workshop which is a very 'hands on' event.

For the past two years, PTS, through its Library staff at the Reigner Reading Room, has worked with Group Publishing Co. in hosting these collaborative events. Sharon Stratmoen (VBS Events/Developer) has been very helpful in getting this program off to a start.

In the most recent training workshop which took place on April 1, 2017 at the PTS Library, the presenter from Group, Christy Thompson, explored the theme for the current year: "Maker Fun Factory: Built for a Purpose." Through the use of various visual props and devices the trainer literally walked through the course, explaining the goals of each 'work station' and their connection with the overall theme. Seminary students and staff plus members from about 30 different churches from New Jersey and Pennsylvania also participated in the workshop. It was a day of learning, fun, and getting to know others.

Academic Technology Librarian Patrick Milas and Director of Collection Services and Assessment Jenifer Gundry, with research assistance from PTS M.Div. Middler Jon Burke (Collection Services Student Assistant) worked together on a research project seeking to document evidence of library impact attested in monograph front matter acknowledging the Princeton Theological Seminary Library.

Drs. Gundry and Milas gave a poster presentation based on this project at the Evidence Based Library & Information Practice (EBLIP) conference at Drexel University in June 2017.

Read their summary report below.