President’s Message, September 2017

The sun is now setting after a warm, sunny day in central Florida where I am attending a library conference. It is energizing to meet other librarians and hear about the work they are doing in their libraries. I usually return from a conference with a handful of ideas to explore, and a little sad that it may be many months before I remeet the librarians I connected with to share ideas again.

SEPTLA meetings are like other library conferences in that they are a great place to share ideas with fellow librarians, but they are also different. Unlike traveling to an exotic destination or world-class conference center, we meet regionally twice annually in one another’s libraries. We’re seeing SEPTLA libraries in action, first-hand. We’re building collaborative relationships across our libraries. We’re learning from each other and supporting one another in the work that we do as theological and religious studies librarians in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey on a regular basis.

Our upcoming Fall meeting at Lancaster Bible College continues this fifty-three-year tradition. The morning session will involve a group exercise in recognizing and sharing our wisdom and experience with one another so that we may begin building a resource network within SEPTLA. In the afternoon, both Interest Groups will be convening a joint session with Greg Murray to hear about Princeton’s digital archiving initiatives. We’ll also tour the new Teague Learning Commons at Lancaster Bible College.

As we continue exploring new ways to meet the needs of our members, SEPTLA remains committed to fostering collaboration and relationship building among theological and religious studies librarians in this region. These personal connections make SEPTLA special. You make SEPTLA unique.

We currently have several opportunities to get involved in this special and unique association. The Executive Committee is particularly looking for those interested in membership, continuing education, and archives. Are you feeling called to serve SEPTLA? If so, please reach out and let me know. There will also be an opportunity to volunteer during the business meeting.

I look forward to seeing you on October 4.

Myka Kennedy Stephens
SEPTLA President, 2016-2018

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