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I’m delighted to say that our Spring Meeting on April 25 will include an in-person option! This will be our first in-person meeting since the Fall Meeting of 2019 at Moravian Theological Seminary two and a half years ago. The Spring Meeting will be a hybrid event, combining the in-person setting with full participation (minus the free lunch) by those joining us over web conferencing. Many thanks are due to Lancaster Theological Seminary and Myka Kennedy Stephens for hosting both the on-site and online components of this hybrid meeting. Please see the meeting invitation in this newsletter for details.
The continuing education program at this event will explore the topic of how institutions are confronting their historical past with slavery and how libraries are involved and affected, especially in terms of what libraries are doing to help affect change for the positive health of their parent institutions. Our featured speaker will be Lae’l Hughes-Watkins, University Archivist at the University of Maryland, who is a co-lead on the University of Maryland’s “The 1856 Project.” The talk will be followed by a mediated conversation where attendees are invited to contribute their own narratives about their parent institutions.
A point of focus for the Executive Committee over the last several months has been to address vacancies in leadership positions that are so crucial to keeping SEPTLA thriving. Staff departures or transitions at member libraries had created some vacancies affecting the Communications Committee, Continuing Education Committee, Research Services Interest Group, and Executive Committee. I’d like to acknowledge and thank publicly those who have stepped forward to bring new energy and leadership to SEPTLA. Evelyn Frangakis of Princeton Theological Seminary recently joined the Continuing Education Committee and agreed to serve as chair, a role that includes serving on the Executive Committee as well. Christina Geuther of New Brunswick Theological Seminary and Victoria Jesswein of United Lutheran Seminary also recently joined the Continuing Education Committee. James Humble of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, a past member of that committee, is serving as member-at-large to provide continuity and historical memory to the group. Given how central professional development is to the mission of SEPTLA, the reconstitution of this committee is an important development.
The role of chair of the Research Services Interest Group is currently vacant. This position is elected by the membership of the interest group itself (not appointed by the Executive Committee), and we can look forward to the group electing a new chair at the Spring Meeting.
Many leadership positions include serving on the Executive Committee, which meets monthly to help keep SEPTLA moving forward, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them publicly too for their steady commitment to SEPTLA: Evan Boyd of United Lutheran Seminary (treasurer), Vic Broberg of Reformed Episcopal Seminary (chair of the Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group), Virginia Dearborn of Princeton Theological Seminary (secretary), Evelyn Frangakis of Princeton Theological Seminary (chair of the Continuing Education Committee), James Humble of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary (archivist and chair of the archives digitization task force), Myka Kennedy Stephens of Lancaster Theological Seminary (website manager and co-chair of the Communications Committee), and Patrick Milas of New Brunswick Theological Seminary (past president).
Currently the Newsletter Editor position is vacant due to a staff departure. This role carries a modest time commitment (two newsletter issues per year, plus service on the Executive Committee as co-chair of the Communications Committee) and is a great way to learn more about SEPTLA, get to know colleagues at other member libraries, and give back to the community through professional service. I hope you’ll consider volunteering for this important role or encouraging a colleague to do so.
I look forward to seeing you either in person or virtually at the Spring Meeting on April 25 at Lancaster Theological Seminary.
Regards,
Greg
Gregory Murray
Director of Digital Initiatives
Theodore Sedgwick Wright Library
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, New Jersey
April 6, 2022
You Are Invited
SEPTLA Spring 2022 Meeting
Monday, April 25, 2022
Lancaster Theological Seminary Library
In Person and Online
Please RSVP Here (yes, no, or maybe)
The details:
- Held in person at Lancaster Theological Seminary and simultaneously online via Zoom
- Welcome and Registration will begin at 10:00 a.m.
- Programs will begin at 10:30 a.m.
- Lunch will be provided by SEPTLA
- Activities will conclude before 3:00 p.m.; a schedule is forthcoming
The continuing education program will start with a talk on the topic of how institutions are confronting their historical past with slavery and how libraries are involved and affected, especially in terms of what libraries are doing to help affect change for the positive health of their parent institutions. The talk will be followed by a mediated conversation where attendees are invited to contribute their own narratives about their parent institutions.
Please RSVP by April 1 so that we know whether (and how) you are attending or not
SEPTLA Executive Committee Meeting
October 14, 2021 2pm
Attendees: Greg Murray, Evan Boyd, Virginia Dearborn, James Humble
Excused: Vic Broberg, James Brumm, Myka Kennedy Stephens, Michele Mesi, Patrick Milas
Greg called the meeting to order.
Agenda
Agenda was approved as submitted.
Minutes
Minutes from September 17 meeting approved as submitted.
Vacancies
Continuing Education Committee still has vacancies for members and a chair. Greg reported that Evelyn Frangakis (Princeton Theological Seminary) is interested in joining as a member, just as Evan had reported Victoria Jesswein’s (United Lutheran Seminary) interest at our last meeting.
Fall Meeting
Done: Evan prepared the registration form; Greg met with Michele for newsletter hand-off; Michele prepared and published the newsletter; Greg sent meeting information to the SEPTLA and NYATLA mailing lists.
There was discussion about the arrangement and content of the meeting. Greg will send out revised agenda with the invitation reminder to the membership tomorrow. Thus far, eleven people have registered to attend. Evan pointed out that we may not reach a quorum. Although there is not anything to vote on at the upcoming meeting, a quorum may be needed to approve the minutes of our last meeting.
When Evan sends the Zoom link to all registrants (including guest speaker Christine Fruin) on October 21, he will also include links to the current newsletter (which is somewhat less static than in past seasons), the reciprocal borrowing agreement, and the Google Doc for COVID-related service updates.
For the next Executive Committee meeting
Since neither of the co-chairs of the Communications Committee were available for today’s meeting, we agreed to put on the agenda for next time a note to the committee about updating the SEPTLA bookmark.
Brief updates
Greg reported that the library at Princeton Theological Seminary was named for the first African American graduate of the seminary (Class of 1828), Theodore Sedgwick Wright, in a ceremony yesterday evening.
Evan asked whether Princeton was doing interlibrary loan (it isn’t) and shared that United Lutheran Seminary has been receiving multiple requests for 19th century materials in Princeton’s collection. Greg suggested he pass requests to the Digital Initiatives team, which he heads, since the team can often digitize and add such materials to the Theological Commons digital library.
Meeting adjourned at 2:40pm.
SEPTLA Executive Committee Meeting
January 12, 2022 2pm
Attendees: Greg Murray, Evan Boyd, Virginia Dearborn, James Humble
Excused: Vic Broberg, Myka Kennedy Stephens, Patrick Milas
Greg called the meeting to order.
Minutes
Minutes from October 14 meeting approved as submitted.
Resignations and Volunteers
Since our last meeting, Michele Mesi has left New Brunswick Theological Seminary (NBTS) and is no longer able to serve as Newsletter Editor. The committee agreed that we can get the next issue of Teamwork put together ourselves and then ask for volunteers from the membership at the Spring meeting.
James Brumm, while still at NBTS, is no longer working in the library there and therefore has stepped down as chair of the Research Services Interest Group. Deanna Roberts (NBTS) has expressed interest in serving as the next chair. Interest group chairs are voted in by the members of the group, so we may look forward to this taking place at the Spring meeting as well.
Continuing Education Committee still has vacancies for members and a chair. In addition to those interested members mentioned in previous meeting, Christina Geuther (NBTS) has also expressed interest in being member of the committee. Greg asked if someone wanted to make a motion to appoint Evelyn Frangakis (Princeton Theological Seminary), Christina Geuther (NBTS) and Victoria Jesswein (United Lutheran Seminary) as members of the committee and encourage them to go ahead and meet without necessarily naming a chair. Jim offered to join their initial meeting, if they’d like, as a past committee member. Evan made the motion; Virginia seconded. The motion passed by acclamation.
Treasurer’s Report
Evan shared that the current balance is $12,668.94 and there are opportunities for additional funding through some Atla grants.
Spring Meeting
Greg suggested a few topics for future membership meetings. For the purposes of professional development, perhaps decolonizing cataloging and metadata. This is something Princeton is just in the early stages of exploring; library staff were encouraged to watch a documentary called Change the Subject (2019), which gives a good introduction to the topic. Jim Humble said he is open to giving a presentation at a future meeting (perhaps Fall 2022) about the SEPTLA archives in order to spark interest among the membership to participate in a task force to determine what to digitize. Evan suggested bringing in a couple of outside presenters to give to SEPTLA the same presentation they gave in a recent ACRL webinar about seeking equity in hiring and creating more welcoming working environments for employees who may be members of historically (and currently) marginalized groups.
Next Steps
Greg will email Evelyn, Christina and Victoria about being appointed to the Continuing Education Committee and remind them Slack is available as one communication/planning tool. He will also send around a Doodle poll to schedule the next Exec Committee meeting when necessary.
Brief Updates/Discussion
Greg reported that Wright Library (Princeton Theological Seminary) plans to restart interlibrary loan and/but in the meantime, if there are any public domain materials needed that have not yet been digitized from the collection, people should feel free to contact him to request digitization.
Evan asked whether any of us had come across articles about how to address racist or otherwise culturally insensitive materials in digital collections. Virginia thought she remembered DPLA having some language about this; Evan later pulled it up, https://dp.la/about/harmful-language-statement. Greg mentioned a disclaimer Princeton had posted on some audio recordings in which direct quotes were used that included racial slurs; for example, https://commons.ptsem.edu/id/7480.
Virginia noted that Myka had posted in Slack about Lancaster Seminary’s closure due to COVID-19 cases and that she had again encouraged members to keep their information up-to-date in the shared Google Doc on the SEPTLA website.
Meeting adjourned at 2:40pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Virginia Dearborn
SEPTLA Executive Committee Meeting
February 16, 2022 11am
Attendees: Greg Murray, Evan Boyd, Virginia Dearborn, James Humble, Deacon Vic Broberg, Myka Kennedy Stephens
Excused: Patrick Milas
Greg called the meeting to order.
Committees and Terms
Jim gave an update on the Continuing Education Committee. He met once in January and again yesterday with the new members serving on this committee: Evelyn Frangakis (Princeton Theological Seminary), Christina Geuther (NBTS) and Victoria Jesswein (United Lutheran Seminary). These were positive, productive meetings already, and Evelyn offered to serve as chair. Evan made a motion to appoint Evelyn Frangakis chair of the Continuing Education Committee; Jim seconded and the motion passed by acclamation.
Myka expressed concern about continuity for this committee, as it has been dormant recently and all 3 new members were appointed at the same time. Jim agreed to continue as a member-at-large and Evan asked Victoria if she might be willing to serve a one-year term to complete a past incomplete term (she was). Evan moved to approve Evelyn and Christina for two-year terms and Victoria for one year to complete the earlier incomplete term; Virginia seconded and the motion passed.
Executive Committee agreed to consider Jim (member-at-large on Continuing Education Committee) as one of the three members specified in the by-laws in addition to the chair. Other SEPTLA members are welcome to join the committee, if interested.
Evan made a motion to appoint Myka to another term as Website Manager and Virginia to another term as member of the Communications Committee. Jim seconded and the motion passed by acclamation.
Myka updated the Officers and Executive Leaders page of the SEPTLA website to reflect these appointments and made the term dates more specific.
Spring Meeting
Jim reported that the Continuing Education Committee already has some ideas for topics, including discussion about what our institutions are doing to engage in antiracist practice.
Before possibly surveying the membership to determine interest in an in-person/hybrid meeting, Myka offered to see if Lancaster Theological Seminary would be willing to host. She said that if they are willing, a weekday that is not Friday would be better as far as scheduling.
Evan is going to look into what kind of honorarium we might offer to a guest speaker, should Continuing Education Committee decide to invite one.
Minutes
Meeting adjourned at 11:45am. We forgot to approve the minutes from January, so motion was conducted over email afterwards.
Respectfully submitted,
Virginia Dearborn
SEPTLA Executive Committee Meeting
March 4, 2022 11am
Attendees: Greg Murray, Evan Boyd, Virginia Dearborn, Evelyn Frangakis, James Humble, Deacon Vic Broberg, Myka Kennedy Stephens; Excused: Patrick Milas
Greg called the meeting to order.
Approval of Minutes from February 16, 2022
Minutes from the committee’s February meeting were approved as distributed
Continuing Education Committee
Greg welcomed Evelyn Frangakis to her first Executive Committee meeting as Continuing Education Committee chair.
Spring Meeting
Greg reported that Myka has secured permission from Lancaster Theological Seminary to host the spring membership meeting this year. Possible dates are April 25, May 2 or May 9, 2022. Thank you, Myka!
Evelyn shared the topics put forward by the committee and there was some discussion. The consensus of the Executive Committee was a presentation about the impacts on a library from an institution’s reckoning with its history, how libraries might help in that effort and then a discussion among the SEPTLA members about the presentation and their own experiences might fit the relatively short timeline we have. The other topics could wait until future meetings.
Myka offered to share Lancaster’s experience with the recent removal of the Schaff name from the seminary library.
Discussion then moved to the meeting format. Myka said Lancaster can accommodate a hybrid meeting. Based on the number of members who might attend in person, she said there are a variety of spaces and technologies available to suit. Rather than send our usual “save the date” message to the membership, it was decided Myka will send an invitation along with a survey to see how many members are interested in attending in person and how many online. In order to save the host library the expense of lunch, Greg suggested SEPTLA cover the cost of food and beverage for the in person attendees this time rather than passing on the expense to the members.
Deadline for RSVP will be April 1 with the understanding that additional online attendees could be accommodated after that date but not additional in person.
Evelyn will go back to the Communication Committee with the Executive Committee’s selection of topic, and Greg and Virginia will take care of the newsletter (in the absence of a Newsletter Editor) getting out after the invitation and before the April 1 RSVP deadline.
Start time for the spring meeting tentatively set for 10:30am on Monday, April 25 with a gathering time beforehand from 10am.
Respectfully submitted,
Virginia Dearborn