Category: News

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SEPTLA Business Meeting Minutes, November 8, 2018

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The Semi-annual meeting of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Theological Library Association convened at 10:00 AM at Missio Seminary, in Hatfield, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth Young Miller, presiding. The meeting was called to order at 10:45.

  1. Mrs. Elizabeth Young Miller, president of the SEPTLA, started the meeting by welcoming the members.
  2. The Agenda: The President announced that there were not enough representatives from enough member institutions to constitute a quorum at today’s meeting. For that reason, we would discuss the issues on the agenda, but we would vote on measures or motions. The members approved this measure by acclamation.
  3. Approval of the minutes of the spring meeting. The minutes of the spring meeting were approved by acclamation.
  4. Reports:
    1. The Treasurer’s report: Patrick Milas was unable to attend today’s meeting, so President Miller distributed the Treasurer’s report and provided an oral presentation summarizing the report. This report shows that the beginning balance of our bank account and money market account totaled $10,910.62 on May 10, 2018, and on November 8, 2018 is was $10,868.21.
    2. Research Services Interest Group: President Miller provided a brief oral presentation from this interest group. James Humble, Bob McInnes, Virginia Dearborn and others provided insights on their work experience in research services. The RSIG has a new chair: Jim Sauer, who will serve through the spring 2019 meeting.
    3. Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group: Chris Schwartz provided the report from the CMIG: The group discussed cataloging workflows and Chris provided handouts of two sets of workflows that she and Melvin Hartwick had developed for cataloging at Princeton Seminary’s library. The second topic of discussion was training resources for cataloging, particularly copy cataloging. Chris provided additional handouts from Princeton used for in-house cataloging training. She also provided handouts for several online cataloging resources. The group decided that they would continue to explore ways for the interest group (and SEPTLA) to provide and facilitate training for staff new to cataloging or those who need a refresher; as some SEPTLA staff find that they catalog in addition to other responsibilities. Chris will work with Virginia to create a page on the SEPTLA website for links to cataloging resources and training materials. The CMIG will take responsibility for maintaining the links on this page.
    4. Continuing Education Committee: This committee needs volunteers.
    5. Communications Committee: Virginia Dearborn reported that this committee has produced the SEPTLA bookmark, which is available for download.
  5. Amendments to Bylaws (discussion only):
    There are intended changes to §5.3 concerning the office of the past president of SEPTLA. Also §6.1, concerning thanking the host institution in writing. Section 6.2 concerns requiring the president (rather than the secretary) to distribute the bylaws to new member institutions. Section 6.3.2 concerns the duties of the treasurer. Section 6.4.4 concerns the past president and duties about the meeting follow-up surveys. Section 6.4.5 concerns scholarships for first-time attendees for the ATLA annual meeting. There was discussion about removing the “first time” attendee requirement from this section. Since there was not a quorum present, a Zoom business meeting will be scheduled in early December to discuss and vote on these amendments.
  6. Discussion about the position description for the SEPTLA administrative assistant. Virginia Dearborn pointed out that details on the matter are available in the minutes of the September meeting of the Executive Committee. Mr. Lincoln said something about independent contractors and IRS requirements. We may need to contact a CPA to help us with these requirements. Myka Kennedy Stephens said she would look into the matter. There was discussion about monetary compensation for this position and how it would be funded. We may need to increase the institutional dues to providiethe necessary funding.
  7. SEPTLA Position Openings.
    1. Continuing Education Committee needs a chair [No one was willing to serve as chair or co-chair.]
    2. Member-at-large of the CEC. [No one was willing to serve in this position.]
    3. Newsletter editor: Greg Murray volunteered for this position.
  8. Institutional News:
    1. Donna Roof reported on the latest developments from Westminster Theological Seminary: Our enrollment this fall has increased. We had somewhere between 90 and 100 new students coming this fall. Donna Campbell and her assistant completed a major project—cataloging the Stonehouse collection, and they have begun cataloging the Knudsen collection. We have new study carrells, which look nice and have enhanced the appearance of Montgomery Library. WTS has started a new degree program: Master of Arts in Christian Studies. Bob McInnes, our archivist, has completed the arrangement and description processing for the William Young collection. Dr. Young was a WTS alumnus, philosophy professor and Presbyterian pastor.
    2. Alan LaPayover reported on the latest developments from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Seminary: Things are in a state of flux at RRS. Our sign now says “Reconstructing Judaism” and their various organizations are now under one ‘umbrella’ organization, and there have been changes made to the curriculum. We have a new archivist. Staff reductions in the library have turned Alan into a ‘one-man shop.’
    3. Jim Sauer reported on the latest developments from Eastern University, Palmer Theological Seminary. EU has a new president. The PTS library lost some of its staff. The seminary library is transitioning from EBSCO to ProQuest. As with so many other seminaries, things are financially tight at EUPTS.
    4. James Humble reported on the latest developments from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. Enrollment is up there. St. Charles just went through an accreditation review with ATS with good remarks from this evaluation. Middle States will review their accreditation soon. Their building has recently been designated as an historical landmark.
    5. Clint Banz reported on the latest developments at Lancaster Bible College: On August 22, Dr. Peter Teague, the President of the College for twenty years announced that he will retire as of August 1, 2019. A presidential search team has been formed and the consulting firm, The Dingman Company, has been contracted to assist them in the search. Our own Director of Library Technology, Dr. Gerald Lincoln, will be retiring May 2019. Dr. Lincoln will have been at Lancaster Bible College for twenty-six years. We will miss him but are very happy that he will be able to return to his family farm in Wisconsin. This fall the College launched three new fully online programs. By next fall the goal is to have thirteen programs and in seven years they hope to have 5,000 students enrolled. The library will very soon be posting a need for an Electronic Resources Librarian position.
    6. Lydia Putnam reported on the latest developments at Missio. As of October 15, Biblical Theological Seminary is now Missio Seminary. Since the name of this institution has changed email addresses will change soon—Missio will send out an update to the SEPTLA listserv when that happens. Missio is planning to relocate to a place new location near the Philadelphia Art Institute in the summer of 2019. Due to difficulty in securing a contractor for the needed renovations on their new Philadelphia site, the seminary’s move has been delayed to the summer of 2019, at the very earliest. Enrollment is down a little. You can find Missio now at missio.edu/library, and our online catalog has changed to missio.on.worldcat.org. Missio now has its own online digital archive, thanks to the expertise provided by Princeton University. One project that was completed ahead of schedule is the digitization of their collection of 750 theses from the former Biblical Seminary of New York, and Princeton is very kindly hosting them on their Theological Commons: commons.ptsem.edu/missio. The link to this is also available on our member page on the SEPTLA website.
    7. Virginia Dearborn reported on the latest developments from Princeton Theological Seminary: PTS’s FTE for 2018-2019 is down to 432. The Library is doing authority work with Marcive and doing clean-up work in Voyager (locations, patron types, etc.) in advance of migrating to another system (2-3 years from now). The Seminary has completed and published on the web a report on the institution’s relationship to slavery: slavery.ptsem.edu. Our archivist, Kenneth Henke, assisted on the report and presented during a panel discussion on October 17, 2018: https://youtu.be/WLYub4pysGI?t=1831. Two positions from the Library moved over to IT as of July 1, 2018: Academic Technology Librarian and Digital Media Lab Coordinator.
    8. Myka Kennedy Stephens reported on the latest developments from Lancaster Theological Seminary. LTS has reconfigured its staffing responsibilities and hired Tim Whitney as Community Engagement Librarian in September. Lancaster Theological Seminary is continuing to expand its participation in the open source community as early adopters for Koha upgrades with ByWater Solutions. They are also exploring ways to better integrate SubjectsPlus (an open source library guides platform) with Koha through use of APIs, and integrating both into Moodle, its open source learning management system. The Seminary has added two JSTOR collections and a subscription to CMOS Online this summer. Lancaster Theological Seminary has begun some renovations to its campus. Their chapel has new lighting, including back-lighting of our stained-glass windows in the evenings. The chapel has been closed for the remainder of the year for additional renovation: new floors, plaster repair and painting, and new seating. The campus has been renamed in honor of a major donor, so LTS is now “Lancaster Theological Seminary, Ann B. Barshinger Campus.”
    9. Elizabeth Young Miller reported on the latest developments from Moravian Theological Seminary: With the exception of a few changes to the seminary faculty, not much has changed at Moravian. One new service, however, is Zotero workshops for seminary students.
    10. Evan Boyd reported on the latest developments at United Lutheran Seminary: United Lutheran Seminary Library has recently joined the Power Library of Pennsylvania for statewide ILL, a digital collection platform, and some e-resource collections. The seminary is currently reorganizing staff roles and a search is underway to hire a professor of worship & liturgy.
    11. Stephanie Kaceli reported on the latest news from Cairn University: The Library front desk has been relocated to the main floor of the library and the new café will be opening early December. In October, the library was able to acquire Worden shelving from Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan and the library is currently working through the plans for a building renovation. Dr. Brian Toews stepped down as Provost in July and Dr. Jason Van Billiard, previous dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, has returned to Cairn as Senior Vice President and Provost.
  9. Other Business: Lacking a quorum, there was no other business.
  10. Conclusion and Next Meeting: Jim Humble offered his institution, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, as the site for our next meeting in the spring of 2019.

Respectfully Submitted,
Robert A. McInnes
Robert A. McInnes, MA, CA, MBA, MLIS
Recording Secretary

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SEPTLA Spring Meeting 2019 Invitation

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Please join us for our next meeting Thursday, May 9, 2019, hosted by St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

RSVPs accepted through April 25: jhumble [at] scs [dot] edu

Agenda (updated 5/6/19)

9:00 – 9:30: Registration and continental breakfast

9:30 – 10:30: Slack workshop

10:45 – 11:45: Business meeting

12:00 – 1:00: Lunch

1:00 – 2:30: Report on collection development policies

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President’s Message, April 2019

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Recent discussions surrounding the mission statement of Moravian Theological Seminary have reminded me of SEPTLA, for a trademark of both organizations involves community.  At Moravian, we pride ourselves on our hospitality and being a warm and welcoming environment, and I believe that SEPTLA embodies this same type of community.   As an organization, SEPTLA values collaboration, and members benefit from learning from one another.  Simply put, we are better together.

At the hands-on spring meeting, scheduled for Thursday, May 9 at St. Charles Borromeo, we will be harnessing the collective wisdom of SEPTLA, sharing collection development policies and exploring Slack, a cloud-based collaborative tool.  SEPTLA members can use Slack to communicate with one another, asking questions and sharing best practices.  During break-out sessions, interest groups can brainstorm how they can use Slack to build community.  To get the most out of this workshop style meeting, please bring your own device—laptop, iPad, etc.

During the business meeting, we will elect new leaders and revisit proposed changes to the bylaws, as well as the potential addition of an administrative assistant.  The proposed changes examine workflow and responsibilities.  All are welcome to participate in these discussions, which will be occurring concurrently in person and via video-conferencing (Zoom).  Please consider how you can join the conversation.

I would also encourage you to become involved in the SEPTLA community by serving in a leadership role.  There are amble ways to serve.  Currently, the following positions are open:

  • Chair of the Continuing Education Committee
  • Member at large of the Continuing Education Committee
  • President
  • Secretary

If you would like to learn more about any of these opportunities, please contact me or the Past President, Myka Kennedy Stephens.

In closing, I would like to leave you with Helen Keller’s words, which point to the value of community: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Elizabeth Young Miller

SEPTLA President, 2018-2019

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Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, February 11, 2019

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10:00 am – Video Conference (Zoom)

Attendees: Virginia Dearborn, Bob McInnes, Patrick Milas, Elizabeth Young Miller, James Humble, Greg Murray, Myka Kennedy Stephens
Excused: James Sauer, Chris Schwartz (interest group chairs)

    1. Welcome and announcements (Elizabeth)
      Called to order at 10:03 a.m.
    2. Approval of the agenda (Elizabeth)
      Approved by acclamation.
    3. Approval of the minutes from December 10, 2018 (Elizabeth)
      Approved by acclamation.
    4. Reports and Discussion
          1. Treasurer’s Report (Patrick)
            As of February 11, 2019, SEPTLA’s current balances are as follows:
            Non-profit Checking Acct (ending in 9912) = $5,032.54
            Money Market Acct (ending in 9552) = $6,746.43
            Total: $11,778.97
          2. Communications Committee (Virginia)
            Very pleased to welcome Greg Murray as Newsletter Editor. Greg would like a list of newsletter content by March 15, 2019; URLs of content already present on SEPTLA website. Any content not yet present on the site should be sent to Virginia. (Copy Virginia and Greg on everything, if that’s easier.) Lydia was a tremendous help in getting automatic backups established and the site updated. Thank you, Lydia! Slides from the now-disbanded Resource Sharing Task Force’s presentation at the Fall 2018 meeting have been uploaded to the website. Chris Schwartz requested and is managing a new Cataloging Resources page on the SEPTLA website. The one-per-page version of the SEPTLA Bookmark has been updated to reflect Biblical’s name change (now Missio). Print order for bookmarks on hold until Missio’s location change has happened.
          3. Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group (Chris)
            Chris was unable to attend today but sent a tentative topic (not posted to the SEPTLA listserv): library system modules for cataloging and metadata work. Also, she is managing a new Cataloging Resources page on the SEPTLA website.
          4. Research Services Interest Group (Jim Sauer)
            Jim was unable to attend today’s meeting.
          5. Spring meeting
            1. Save the Date: April 26, 2019 (Friday)*
              Jim Humble at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary will be hosting the Spring SEPTLA meeting. Virginia will post a Save the Date message on the SEPTLA website, asking members to RSVP to Jim by April 12.
            2. SLACK
              Myka demonstrated Slack for the committee and sent invitations to executive committee to enter the SEPTLA workspace prior to the Spring meeting. Channels will be public to SEPTLA members who accept Slack invitations. Current channels in the workspace include # executive committee, # general, and # random. Slack will be the topic of a hands-on workshop at the meeting. Attendees will be encouraged to bring a laptop or tablet to the meeting so that they can enter and use the workspace. Myka will make Communications Committee members administrators in the space.
            3. Shared collection development
              The Spring meeting will also include a discussion about shared collection development.
            4. BYO – Invitation to the Spring meeting will include request for members to bring their library’s collection development policy and an internet-connected device (phone, tablet, laptop) to try out Slack.
            5. We will need Zoom (or other web conferencing tool) in order to include in the business meeting voting members from any libraries unable to travel to St. Charles.
            6. Elizabeth will check with the interest group chairs about possible interest group time on the meeting agenda.
    5. Adjourn (Elizabeth)

The Executive Committee will not meet again prior to the April 26 meeting at St. Charles.
Adjourned at 11:00 a.m.

*Note: The date of the spring meeting has been changed to May 9, 2019 and that RSVPs are due to Jim Humble by April 25. The Executive Committee has also called another Zoom meeting for April 15.

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Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2018

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10:00 am – Video Conference (Zoom)

Attendees: Virginia Dearborn, Bob McInnes, Patrick Milas, Elizabeth Young Miller, James Sauer, Chris Schwartz, Myka Kennedy Stephens
Excused: Greg Murray, unnamed Continuing Education Committee representative

    1. Welcome and announcements (Elizabeth)
      Called to order at 10:05 a.m.
      The attempt to call a Zoom meeting to update the bylaws was not successful. That series of votes and a discussion of the administrative assistant position has been postponed until the Spring 2019 business meeting.
    2. Approval of the agenda (Elizabeth)
      Approved by acclamation.
    3. Approval of the minutes from September 25, 2018 (Elizabeth)
      Reference in Treasurer’s Report to checking account changed from “business checking account” to “non-profit checking account.”
      Approved by acclamation.
    4. Confirmation of appointments
      Greg Murray’s appointment as Newsletter Editor and Co-Chair of the Communications Committee confirmed unanimously.
      Welcome to Jim Sauer as new chair of the Research Services Interest Group.
    5. Reports and Discussion
          1. Treasurer’s Report (Patrick)
            As of December 10, 2018 and the last account statements of November 30, 2018, SEPTLA’s current balances are as follows:
            Non-profit Checking Acct (ending in 9912) = $4,657.54
            Money Market Acct (ending in 9552) = $6,738.99
            Total: $11,396.53
          2. Communications Committee (Virginia)
            Form plugin we originally used on the SEPTLA website has been discontinued. A new form plugin was installed. Emailing via the new form is still under development. Information for New Brunswick Theological Seminary has been updated on the website. The officers list will be updated after the meeting.
          3. Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group (Chris)
            Planning to put resources and training materials for cataloging shared at the Fall 2018 meeting onto the SEPTLA website. Target date for posting these resources is January 2019.
          4. Research Services Interest Group (Jim Sauer)
            Planning to explore non-Western theologies at a future meeting. The interest group is interested in offering webinar presentations, perhaps in partnership with ATLA, that would be helpful to everyone.
          5. Resource Sharing Task Force
            The Task Force gave their recommendations at the Fall Meeting, thus fulfilling their charge. They did not write a formal report for the Executive Committee, but we will ask for their slides and hope to post them on the SEPTLA website. This task force is now disbanded with thanks and gratitude to its members: Mark Draper, Gerry Lincoln, and Evan Boyd.
          6. Continuing Education Committee
            1. Vacancies
              Two openings are available: chair of the committee and a member-at-large. Targeted invitations to fill those vacancies were not successful. Another announcement to the general membership will go out with the announcement for the Spring meeting.
            2. Spring meeting
              Given the vacancies on the committee, it would be too much to try and arrange the regularly scheduled biennial all-day workshop with grant funded programs/speakers. Executive Committee will be planning the meeting, using the biennial workshop schedule and facilitating the workshops ourselves.

              1. Dates
                Jim Humble at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary will be hosting the Spring SEPTLA meeting. The following potential meeting dates will be offered to him: April 26, April 29, May 2, May 6, May 10, or May 9 if none of the other dates work.
              2. SLACK
                Myka introduced Slack as a tool we might want to use for our expertise list and mentoring, a suggestion that came out of the Future Task Force’s report. Discussion was favorable about deploying this for SEPTLA and it will be the topic of a hands-on workshop at the Spring meeting. Attendees will be encouraged to bring a laptop or tablet to the meeting so that they can join the SEPTLA Slack Workspace. The Workspace will be set up and in use by the Executive Committee prior to the Spring meeting.
              3. Shared collection development
                This is offered as a topic for a second workshop during the Spring meeting. Lancaster Theological Seminary is planning a revision of its collection development policy in March 2019 and Myka was planning to review collection development policies from other SEPTLA libraries as part of her review process. This could be the foundation for a larger conversation at the SEPTLA Spring meeting.
                Everyone agreed that these two topics would be appropriate and doable for the SEPTLA Spring 2019 meeting at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
  1. SEPTLA meeting survey results (Myka)
    20 people responded to the SEPTLA Fall Meeting survey.
Overall satisfaction: 4.21 (weighted average, scale of 1 to 5)
Comments about the meeting: “Wish we’d had a quorum.”
“Of course it is always good to see old friends and make new ones. I was just disappointed that we did not have enough participants to make a quorum.”
“I thought it was a really good meeting overall; the hosts did a great job! However, I was disappointed that we did not have a quorum to vote on changes to the bylaws at the business meeting. While their presentation was very informative, I wish that the Resource Sharing Task Force had more than one recommendation as to how we could work as a group in this area. The DTL is a good idea, but just one.”
“The afternoon proposal started late, was long in explanation, and isn’t an option that our library wishes to pursue.”
“I enjoyed the interest group meeting, but was a bit disappointed with the afternoon session presented by the Resource Sharing Committee. The presentation was narrower than I expected and not very relevant to my institution.”
“The space and accommodations were good, and there was value in the interest group meeting.”
Satisfaction with each session during the meeting: (Weighted averages on a scale of 1 to 5) 

Morning refreshments – 4.33

Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group – 4.6

Research Services Interest Group – 4.33

Business Meeting – 4.29

Lunch – 4.25

Conversation with the Resource Sharing Task Force – 4

Tour of Missio Seminary Library – 4
Reasons why people did not attend the Fall meeting: “The day/time did not work for my schedule” x 2 

“I am the only librarian at my institution and I am not able to attend any in-person meetings”

“I attended NYATLA rather than SEPTLA”

“Needed to help out with duties here at the library”

“RSVP was two weeks prior and I could not be sure I would be able to attend that far in advance”
[Skipped over responses to questions about scheduling a virtual business meeting to vote on amendments to the Bylaws.]
Recommended topics for future workshops or SEPTLA events “Something about effective goal setting in a too-much-to-get-done everyday working environment?” 

“Something on e-books librarianship.”

“1. Course-centric LibGuides; LibGuides as a way to “embed” a library’s research services into individual courses 2. Creation or adoption of videos as tools in bibliographic instruction 3. Developments in e-book accessibility for small libraries”

“Cataloging training for staff who are new to cataloging and/or non-catalogers who now find it is part of their job. (This could also be a refresher for those who catalog regularly.)”

“By next Fall, I might be able to present the pros/cons of the PA Power program in Pennsylvania. We’re about to implement their services.”

“We discussed in passing having an afternoon session focusing on cataloging for non-catalogers”

“setting up Slack for SEPTLA”

“Shared collection development”

“1. Creating a collaborative workspace for SEPTLA Members on Slack – this would build on the desire for and interest in building an expertise list, mentoring, and facilitating better support and interaction among members between meetings. 2. A conversation about shared collection development. We’re reviewing our collection development policy this spring, so this would be a timely discussion topic.”
Interest in virtual meeting offerings: (17 Responses to this question) 

Webinars, perhaps co-sponsored by ATLA – 82.35%

Facilitated virtual conferencing meetings on specific topics – 70.59%

Informal virtual conferencing meetings for social and/or networking purposes – 23.53%

View a real-time broadcast from the SEPTLA meeting in lieu of attending in person – 41.18%

View recordings of sessions from SEPTLA meetings after the conclusion of the meeting – 29.41%

Other: “Please provide recordings of any training or sessions which can be viewed at a later time. I am rarely able to attend a meeting at another location, and it can be difficult to attend webinars at the times they are offered.”
Recommended topics for a virtual meeting or webinar: “Developing a track within an MLIS program for theological librarianship.” 

“Research services, information literacy, archives”

“Copyright matters for digital formats”

“1. Course-centric LibGuides; LibGuides as a way to “embed” a library’s research services into individual courses 2. Creation or adoption of videos as tools in bibliographic instruction 3. Developments in e-book accessibility for small libraries”

“Ongoing intro to cataloging – Discussions about possibly creating a SEPTLA-version of the DTL”

“Cataloging refresher”

“preparing for ATS accreditation, assessment”

“best practices, emerging technologies, innovative approaches to librarianship, trends in theological and religious studies scholarship”
Referral for SEPTLA Membership: “If we’re looking to expand, perhaps we should consider those colleges in the area that offer degrees in theology or religion, and see if they have subject-specfic [sic] librarians. Also look at schools whose background is religious, and which may still maintain special collections dealing with that background. I’m thinking of a school like Haverford College, which has a religion major as well as a Quaker collection in their library. It might be worthwhile to make a list of schools whose libraries are involved in the support of religious or theological studies or in maintaining religious collections.”

The committee discussed these survey responses and expressed appreciation for the feedback from the membership.

  1. SEPTLA scholarship
    This was discussed at the Fall business meeting. The Executive Committee decided to open the application up to anyone who is attending the ATLA annual conference. Preference will be given to first-time attendees and presenters. The scholarship recipient must agree to present highlights from the ATLA conference in a SEPTLA webinar or at a future SEPTLA meeting.
  2. SEPTLA update for ATLA Newsletter
    Since there is nothing much to share from our Fall meeting, we will not send a recap of the Fall meeting to the ATLA Newsletter. The Communications Committee will send a short announcement to ATLA when we are ready to announce the Spring meeting that will include the topics for our workshops.
  3. Other business
    The Library Store discount is up for renewal; we’ll ask on the listserv to see if this is something the membership is interested in continuing.
  4. Adjourn (Elizabeth)
    Next meeting is February 11 at 10:00 a.m.
    Adjourned at 11:12 a.m.

SEPTLA Institutional News, Spring 2018

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Biblical Theological Seminary

Lydia Putnam announced that Biblical will change its name in October to Missio.  The institution signed a lease for a building near the Philadelphia Art Museum and the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the move will take place between December 16, 2018 and January 22, 2019.  The library staff are busy with collection reduction.  Faculty are playing an important role in this project and discovering useful materials in the process.  Also, Biblical is scanning 750 theses and uploading them to the Digital Commons.

Cairn University

Stephanie Kaceli shared updates about the library and the University.  In February, the library switched to Open Athens, and this change has been very well received.  She also highlighted that the library lobby is being converted into a café.  Library director, Dr. Hewey is retiring, and Stephanie has been named the new director.  Stephanie mentioned that Cairn will be offering more STEM programs, specifically in chemistry.

Evangelical Seminary

Mark Draper reported that Dr. Len Sweet has been hired to teach in the newly approved doctor of theology (ThD) program.  Evangelical has applied for an online MDiv and an online Bible degree; both programs will impact the number of patrons who visit the physical library.

Lancaster Theological Seminary

Myka Kennedy Stephens announced that she returned from sabbatical in January and has been busy since her return.  The library continues its multi-year weeding project with a goal to complete it by August 2019. A modest climate control unit that helps stabilize temperature and humidity has been fixed in the rare books room.  Lancaster Seminary graduated the first students from its redesigned MDiv program on May 5 and looks forward to welcoming a new class of students in early August.

Moravian Theological Seminary

Elizabeth Young Miller reported that representatives from both ATS and Middle States visited this semester.  The administration is pleased with the result of these visits.

New Brunswick Theological Seminary

Ondrea Murphy explained that there have been a number of changes at New Brunswick.  Three library staff members resigned, including the library director.  Dr. John Coakley, a faculty emeritus, who holds an MLS, is serving as the interim library director.  A search will begin for a new director.  Rev. James Brumm was hired to oversee the new theological writing center and serves as archivist too.  On May 18, Rev. Micah L. Mcreary, Ph.D will be inaguarated as New Brunswick’s new president.  Another positive change involves technology upgrades, including new computers.

Palmer Theological Seminary/Eastern University

Dr. Jim Sauer shared information about staff changes and new programs.  He announced that Eastern University has a new president—Dr. Ronald (Ron) Matthews.  Dr. Matthews is a musician, as well as a faculty member, and it is hoped that he will raise money for the institution.  Marvin Smith in the library is retiring, and Chelsea Post, formerly of St. Charles Borromeo, has been hired as the Systems Librarian.  Eastern University offers several new programs: a doctoral education degree in STEM, a MA in classical education, and an online MA in theology designed for the Spanish speaking community.  The fourth cohort is enrolled in the MA in theology.

Princeton Theological Seminary

Virginia Dearborn announced that Chip Dobbs-Allsopp is the new James Lenox Librarian and that Evelyn Frangakis was named the Managing Library Director.  Princeton is currently working on their self-study for Middle States.

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Alan LaPayover explained that there is movement and change within Reconstuctionist Judaism.  While there has been a change of the movement’s central organization’s name to Reconstructing Judaism, the College will not change its name for a year.  Nonetheless, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College will be putting up a new website sometime this summer.

Reformed Episcopal Seminary

Russ Buchanan reported that Reformed Episcopal will be conducting their self-study this fall ahead of their ATS site visit in 2019.  Reformed Episcopal welcomed their first international student this year; he is from Nigeria.  The Seminary anticipates other students enrolling from Nigeria.

St. Charles Borromeo Seminary

James (Jim) Humble provided several updates regarding St. Charles Borromeo.  The Seminary is working on both ATS and Middle States accreditation; they are currently trimming their ATS report.  The site visits are slated for next March.  Jim explained that nothing has been finalized either with the purchase of their current location nor where they will be moving.  The Seminary is waiting on the Board to vote, which may occur over the summer.  Most likely, it will be two (2) years before the Seminary relocates to their new campus.  Jim shared that Chelsea Post left in January to go to Palmer Theological Seminary at Eastern University.  Her position has been frozen and may not reopen.  Jim, paraprofessionals, a secretary, and student workers are staffing the library.

United Lutheran Seminary

Evan Boyd shared that there have been a lot of changes at United Lutheran. In March, the seminary board relieved the school’s first president of her role and put in place an acting president. His tenure will end June 1, as an interim president, Dr. Richard Greene, begins his duties for the coming year. ULS has received reaccreditation for all of its degree programs from both Middle States and ATS. During graduation, it was announced that the seminary received a $30 million bequest, to be used to establish a new chair on the faculty, with the bulk endowing student scholarships.

Westminster Theological Seminary

Donna Roof announced that Robert (Bob) McInnes began in January as the Archivist and Special Collections Librarian; Westminster is excited that he has formal training and experience in these areas.  She also reported that the library has new study carrels.