2017 American Theological Library Association Annual Conference

What are your top concerns in Technical Services? In an open and informal conversation discussing top concerns for Technical Services personnel, participants are especially encouraged to share their experiences with and solutions for the most current issues they face in the profession.

Librarians have varying professional and personally held values relating to the topic of intellectual freedom (IF). This session frames a conversation about participants’ values on IF through American Library Association (ALA) policy documents on the topic and asks participants to consider their own values and where religious values may support or oppose IF.

Conversation questions:
1. What does “intellectual freedom” mean to you?
2. Where does religion support intellectual freedom? Where does religion oppose it?
3. What role should personal religious beliefs play in the professional practice of librarianship (if any)?
4. What role do personal ethics and/or personally held religious beliefs have in your professional practice of librarianship?

Though not a prerequisite, conversation may be enhanced by these suggested readings.

Suggested readings:
Smith, G. A. (2002). Christian librarianship: Essays on the integration of faith and profession. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co.

“Christian librarians and the ethics of the Library Bill of Rights” by S. Kaihoi:
https://theolib.atla.com/theolib/article/view/353

“Expressing Intellectual Freedom: A Content Analysis of Catholic Library World from 1980 to 2015” by M. E. Welsh:
https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/article/view/27980/21034

As theological schools face crises of various sorts, librarians are frequently asked to adapt to new circumstances—which they are happy to do. However, all too often, these requests are accompanied by announcements of budget cuts. This dual request—adapt and cut—is a recipe for the end of libraries as we have known them. That might not be a bad thing if libraries did not have much more to offer than helping to deliver the curricula of their parent institutions. As theological schools cast about for new futures, this can be a time when libraries step up and offer rival narratives to the usual, narrow “library as helper” stories. This session will examine "new" or at least "different" models of libraries that could help to secure strong libraries and, in the process, stabilize the wider enterprise of theological education in the current time of crisis, change, and opportunity.

As theological education increasingly adapts to online environments, librarians are being challenged to provide parallel experiences for both on-campus and distance students, per ATS standards. How do we provide the human touch to distance students who we rarely or never see? How can we provide the same easy access to advice or information on-campus students can receive in person? How do we encourage students to use this service? This conversation group will consider ideas for providing quality reference and instruction to distance students and pose thoughtful questions: (1) How do you promote a spirit of inquiry and thorough research, especially among distance students? (2) What effective strategies have you found for actively collaborating with professors/ administrators regarding the development of curriculum and the use of information resources? (3) Is what you do for online classes different from what you do in face-to-face situations and if so, how so? Topics may include online literacy instruction, marketing library resources and services to distance populations, providing reference remotely, recommended tools for virtual librarianship, and more, depending on where attendees wish to take the conversation.

When you spend 25 years in theological librarianship and then unexpectedly find yourself unemployed how do you react? How do you cope? And what happens when you find yourself in a different library field? This paper will offer some reflections on that question with a little of a personal journey with and some advice for those who may find themselves in the same position someday.

A time to just talk about books, blogs, journals and other materials ATLA Conference attendees have read through out the year.

This session will provide a basic overview of the state of the art of ebook collection development and acquisition strategies as they pertain to individual libraries and shared collections. It will also solicit a list of ebook-related challenges from the audience, and suggest initial steps for a roadmap that could be followed to support future cooperative development of individual library and cooperative ebook strategies.