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ABSTRACT Using an autoethnographic approach, this article explores the experience of a Research and 
Education librarian who provides library support for undergraduate theology classes at a Catholic college, 
while at the same time lacking subject expertise and experience in the fields of theological and religious 
studies.  Through the author’s own experiences and existing literature, the article highlights challenges 
that can be faced by a librarian in such a position.  It then examines solutions, pointing to ways that librar-
ians, without specific theological expertise, can make use of their own training and education to build 
their subject knowledge and better assist students and faculty.

Peter J. Rogers is Assistant Professor and Head of Research and Education at Phillips Memorial Library, Providence 
College.

Supporting the Undergraduate Study of Theology
The Expertise Challenge
by Peter J. Rogers

INTRODUCTION

My journey into theological librarianship started shortly after my arrival at Providence College (PC) 
when I received my first student question about where they could find a Bible.  This question came 
up with regularity, and the stock answers available to those of us in the library were less than satis-
fying.  For example, we would ask: “What kind of Bible do you want?”  Usually, the student did not 
know, and we, as librarians, lacked the expertise to guide them.  We could suggest: “You can look for 
them in the BS section of our research collection on this floor or our main stacks on the next floor.”  
While this guided them to the general physical location of our Bibles, it did little more.  Our ability 
to provide significant reference, instruction, or collection development was similarly limited, and 
students often faced important assignments and research projects with little library support in this 
foundational subject area.

Our experience at PC, a largely undergraduate Catholic, Dominican liberal arts college, is likely 
repeated at many other similar institutions that lack librarians with expertise in theology or reli-
gious studies.  In a survey of librarians at undergraduate institutions, almost half, 49%, said they 
served as theology liaisons without any particular interest or expertise in the field (Butler 2015, 37).  
As a result, many libraries are unable to provide the level of support necessary for student success 
in this area.  This realization led me to the following inquiry: how does an academic librarian lack-
ing expertise in theology provide library support at an undergraduate institution where theology is 
integrated into many aspects of the curriculum?

As the Library’s Head of Research and Education at a Catholic institution, I have a responsibility 
to address the problem in the context of the library’s functions and capacity.  Lacking formal train-
ing or expertise in the field, I have sought to use my relevant experiences as well as the opportuni-
ties available to me.  These include, but are not limited to, extensive experience with teaching and 
mentoring undergraduates, previous work in the highly interdisciplinary field of environmental 
studies, and a theology-focused library project with exceptional assistance from one of the library’s 
student workers.  With these tools, I have developed practical skills and knowledge that can be lev-
eraged to meet students’ needs.



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METHOD

This article is essentially the story of one individual’s experience in the context of a broader set of 
issues.  As such, I have approached the telling and analysis of my experiences from the perspective 
of autoethnography.  Institutional ethnography has become an important tool for understanding 
the internal working of organizations and their relationships with others, be they customers, pa-
tients, or library patrons.  It provides the library community with an important tool for understand-
ing ourselves and the interactions between libraries and important patron populations such as 
students (see, e.g., Dalmer, Stooke, and McKenzie 2017).  By examining our own and these groups’ 
perspectives and lived experiences, libraries can provide better patron service and smoother inter-
nal operations.

It would be useful at this point to say a little more about ethnography as a method.  While it has 
been increasingly used as a tool for studying and managing libraries, not all librarians are neces-
sarily familiar with it.  Ethnography should be systematic.  It is not the collecting of random stories 
and experiences. Ethnography focuses on the emic or internal perspective of its research subjects.  
It seeks to understand the perspective and experience of the group being studied and uses tech-
niques such as participant observation to permit the researcher to get closer to the point of view 
of their subjects (Bernand 2011). Qualitative ethnographic research is not necessarily easier or less 
“scientific” than the quantitative research and data generally used for assessment in the library 
world.  Carefully collecting narrative descriptions from respondents is very different from survey 
research and can provide an important complement to quantitative studies.

An offshoot of ethnography is autoethnography, where the researcher becomes an important ob-
ject of study.  This is a more reflexive approach that allows for the exploration of one’s own person-
al experiences.  Autoethnography developed as a research approach because of concerns about the 
way in which the personal experience and perspectives of an ethnographic researcher might affect 
their research.  An autoethnographic approach makes these experiences and perspectives explicit 
as the researcher themselves becomes part of the subject of study (Adams, Jones, and Ellis 2014).

Guzik (2013) argues that an autoethnographic approach can be a valuable tool for library and 
information science research.  As librarians doing research on librarianship, we are inevitably part 
of our subject of research.  An autoethnographic approach allows for a more explicit awareness of 
this.  In the case of this study, I am both the researcher and a research subject seeking to understand 
why and how I can better provide theological library services at a predominantly undergraduate 
Catholic college.  As such, it makes sense to use a methodological approach that explicitly positions 
me as both subject and researcher in this process.

Another virtue of an autoethnographic approach is that it allows for the addressing of some 
anthropologists’ concerns regarding the quality of library ethnographic work.  Lanclos and Asher 
(2016) have formal ethnographic training and experience as well as having undertaken ethnograph-
ic research at the libraries of their home institutions.  Writing in both a critical and sympathetic 
manner, they describe most library ethnography as “ethnographish.”  While using ethnographic 
tools such as participant observation, most library ethnography projects are short-term and nar-
rowly focused on specific management or assessment objectives.  Autoethnography, or at least this 
application of it, provides an element of correction in two ways.  One, it is largely longitudinal in 
nature, as the processes described in this study are informed by several years of experience and 
observation.  Two, it did not begin with any predetermined research question or goal in mind.  I 
began with what I thought was a simple task, making it easier for students to find the Bible(s) they 
needed for their academic work.  Over time, it has expanded to its present focus, the question of 



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how a librarian without theological expertise can best provide theological library services to under-
graduates at a Catholic institution. 

CONTEXTUAL REVIEW

The Role of Theology Librarianship at Undergraduate Institutions
In the United States, there are 260 Catholic institutions of higher education with a combined total 
of 870,00 students (Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities 2020).  In one form or another, 
theology is commonly integrated into many of these schools’ general education programs.  As a re-
sult, Butler’s (2015) work on librarians at undergraduate institutions doing some form of theological 
librarianship is exceptionally relevant.  There were only seven respondents from Catholic schools 
in Butler’s survey, making this subsample far too small to generalize from.  However, at least three 
of these librarians meet her criteria for being unlikely to see themselves as “theological librarians.”1  
Extrapolating from this observation, it seems probable that a not insignificant percentage of those 
870,000 students are undergraduates at institutions with some sort of theology requirement but 
with no such expertise in the library. 

My colleagues and I at PC’s Phillips Memorial Library are in a situation similar to the librarians 
in Butler’s survey.  As a Catholic institution, PC integrates the study of theology into many aspects 
of its undergraduate curriculum.  The school’s Core Curriculum requires all undergraduates take 
at least two theology courses (Providence College Faculty Senate 2010). In the 2019-20 academic 
year, 103 theology courses were taught by the Theology Department, in large part to meet this Core 
Curriculum requirement.  Theology is also an important part of PC’s distinctive Development of 
Western Civilization (DWC) program.  This consists of three semesters of seminars studying signifi-
cant texts from antiquity to the modern period and a fourth, team-taught semester-long colloquium 
focused on a specific contemporary issue.  The seminars, colloquiums, and teaching teams are all 
interdisciplinary, with theology as an important part of the mix of disciplines.2  Every undergradu-
ate at PC thus takes at least six courses where theology is the central, or a significant, component 
of the course content, and the library has a clear responsibility to assist students with such work.

However, support for specific academic programs or courses is not the only way that demand 
for theological resources manifests itself at Catholic undergraduate institutions.  Undergraduate 
curriculums exist in the context of a school’s overall goals and missions.  This is particularly true of 
Catholic institutions such as Providence College which exist in a broader cultural and organizational 
context.  There is a long-running conversation about the meaning and direction of “Catholic higher 
education” and the appropriate nature of a Catholic university or college’s “core curriculum.”  The 
discussion occurs in academic works (see, e.g., Roche 2015), the work of Catholic-affiliated organi-
zations (see, e.g. Project on General Education and Mission 2009), official church pronouncements, 
most notably Pope John Paul II’s 1990 Ex Corde Ecclesiae, and even in Providence College’s student 
newspaper, The Cowl (Kulesza 2020). 

Potentially, libraries have an important enabling role to play in these conversations.  Morey and 
Piderit (2006) identify the role of “knowledge experts” in the process of sustaining culture.  They 
also note the historical role that members of religious orders have played as knowledge experts at 
Catholic colleges and universities.  As such individuals become fewer in number, new knowledge 
experts will have to come from the lay administration, faculty, and staff whose religious education 
and experience is generally less than those they are replacing.  While academic libraries and librar-



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ians do not directly function as knowledge experts, they can, in a more indirect manner, provide the 
information services and resources necessary for the emergence of such new knowledge experts. 

My institution provides a clear example of the changing background of faculty members.  In 
1939, 54 of 68 “officers of instruction” were members of the Dominican Order (Providence College 
1939).  Thirty years later, in 1969, 72 of the 195 “faculty personnel” were Dominicans (Providence 
College 1969).  Most recently in 2020, 15 of the 274 “full-time” faculty were members of the order 
(Providence College 2020).  This represents a decline from 79% of the faculty in 1939 to 5% in 2020, 
highlighting the importance of having some degree of theological expertise in the library to enable 
the emergence of alternative knowledge experts. 

The importance of knowledge experts could be seen when PC recently completed a major stra-
tegic planning exercise, PC200, which took place in the context of this conversation on Catholic 
higher education.  The overall vision and several of the important goals that are articulated by this 
strategic plan clearly reference religious values … 

“Vision – Providence College will be a nationally recognized Catholic, residential, undergraduate-
focused, higher-education institution.

Goal 1 - A Distinctive Educational Experience … in the 800-year-old Dominican tradition of criti-
cal inquiry

Goal 2 - A Model of Love, Inclusivity, and Equity in a Diverse Community … inspired by Catholic 
teaching and St. Dominic’s wide embrace of all people,” (Providence College 2018)

Consequently, the Library provided research support for this planning process (Future of Higher 
Education Research Team 2022).  This required an effort to provide the most useful information 
and resources when there was, at times, a lack of the theological subject expertise necessary to ad-
dress the religious and spiritual values expressed in the strategic plan. 

PROFESSIONAL (RE)DEVELOPMENT

Questions of retraining and developing knowledge in new fields have always been of central im-
portance to me.  And they are equally relevant to many other academic librarians at predominantly 
undergraduate institutions where there are few subject specialists.  There is literature on signifi-
cant mid-career changes by librarians, such as Fontenot’s (2008) description of his move from being 
a law librarian to one who does more general reference and instruction.  However, this literature 
seems to be more limited when it comes to the more subtle, but no less important, aspect of ongoing 
professional development - providing reference, instruction, and collection management support 
for academic disciplines with which we lack familiarity.3

When considering the process of professional (re)development, it is important to recognize the 
agency of individual librarians and the context created by institutions, libraries, academic depart-
ments, colleges, etc.  As one example of the role of the individual, Fontenot (2008) provides a very 
nice personal description of his experience shifting from law librarianship to a reference and in-
struction position at a large university.  Interestingly, Fontenot emphasizes the importance of hu-
mility (27), a theme which will be developed further below.  It’s critical to acknowledge the areas 
where we lack knowledge and experience and be willing to seek out those with the necessary ex-
pertise to assist us.  



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It is also critical that we, as librarians, regard ourselves as learners.  To enhance communica-
tion between ourselves and disciplinary academics and facilitate a process of learning by doing, 
we can use the development of library instruction material as the context for gaining disciplinary 
knowledge and developing relationships.  This practice allows for “active experimentation” and the 
continued refinement of instructional materials.  (Luca 2019, 82).

The support of institutions as well as individual initiative is also vital for professional (re)devel-
opment.  In a statistical analysis of librarians and their career moves in South Korea, support from 
managers and the overall institution were found to have the strongest relationship with librarians 
pursuing various forms of career development (Noh 2005).  

Smith (2008) looks at how academic libraries can adapt to the “emerging discipline” of game 
studies.  In a number of conceptual ways, enhancing one’s knowledge of and experience with an 
existing discipline is similar to the manner in which one would approach providing services for 
a new one.  In both cases, librarians must develop subject expertise on the fly, making use of the 
skills, experiences, and resources available to them.  Smith advocates that all the departments of a 
library be involved in developing new expertise and services. Both reference and instruction and 
collection development play important roles in generating understanding of an unfamiliar disci-
pline and can reinforce one another’s work. I have been fortunate in the support I have received 
from other departments of our library.

CHALLENGES

Providing library support for undergraduate theology research and teaching without subject ex-
pertise presents numerous challenges, even more so at an institution such as PC where the disci-
pline is such an important part of the curriculum and culture.  At PC, as at many undergraduate 
institutions, librarians are generally hired for their flexibility and ability to fill multiple roles as 
well as their experience working with undergraduates, rather than their disciplinary expertise and 
experience.  

I have spent time talking to my library colleagues at PC and elsewhere about what they see as 
major obstacles to providing library support to undergraduate theology study.  In these conversa-
tions, two major themes have emerged: the first one is “benign neglect” and the second is “appre-
hension.”  “Benign neglect” arises when one focuses on another part of one’s job or library support 
for the college as a whole, as opposed to any specific discipline.  There is plenty of work to do in an 
academic library, and every librarian has particular interests that they prefer to focus upon.  Using 
myself as an example, I am particularly interested in maps and geospatial data library work.  When 
there are no librarians with specific expertise or interest in a topic, it is more likely to be neglected, 
albeit benignly.  Without subject matter expertise, such as in the case of theological librarianship 
being examined here, it is more likely to remain out of sight and out of mind.

While “benign neglect” can occur at almost any institution and regarding almost any topic, there 
are specific challenges to supporting the theological education of undergraduates at a Catholic insti-
tution such as PC.  This is the set of challenges which falls into the “apprehension” category.  Other 
PC librarians and I are aware of the importance of the discipline of theology and the expertise of 
not only the theology faculty but also many others on campus, most obviously the members of the 
Dominican Order who are an important and highly visible part of the campus community.  Several 
colleagues expressed apprehension about doing theological librarianship without sufficient exper-
tise in such a setting.  There is concern about making an embarrassing mistake, accidentally step-



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ping on the theological version of a landmine, and lacking the basic vocabulary to communicate 
effectively.  Ironically, the very importance of a discipline to an institution, such as theology to PC, 
can make it more difficult for non-subject expert librarians to feel confident in providing library 
support for it.

EXPERIENCES

A major virtue of autoethnography is the degree to which it allows the researcher to reflect upon 
themselves.  During my time at PC working on this topic, I found several strategies that have been 
useful in the absence of subject matter expertise.  

Interdisciplinary Experience
The first is my interdisciplinary experience in the field of environmental studies.  This has provided 
me with two advantages that I have been able to capitalize on.  I had some awareness of theological 
and religious topics to the degree they intersected with environmental studies.  For example, there 
is a classic, and oft-debated and critiqued, environmental studies article from 1967 by the historian 
Lynne White which to a great degree blames Christianity for “our [current] ecological crisis.”  There 
are also theologically informed environmental arguments such as those presented in Pope Francis’s 
2015 Encyclical Letter, On Care for our Common Home, which invoked the language of “steward-
ship” and the historical example of St. Francis of Assisi.

The second, and perhaps more important, advantage provided by teaching and doing research 
on environmental studies was the opportunity to cultivate humility.  Very early in my environmen-
tal studies career, I learned the full extent of what I didn’t know and came to appreciate the way 
my political science training did not provide expertise in the natural sciences or humanities.  Due 
to this experience, I am exceptionally aware of the need for collaboration, identifying appropriate 
sources of expertise when I find myself lacking such, and communicating successfully with schol-
ars, students, and the general public over a wide range of technical topics and concepts.   All in all, 
I better understand the extent of my “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns,” which has 
been liberating and made me more effective at collaborating with those coming from disciplinary, 
philosophical, and life experiences different from my own. 

Role of Spirituality
In his 2017 essay, Wagner makes a compelling argument that librarianship can be seen as a “spiri-
tual practice.”  He describes a method which he calls bibliothecarius Divina (sacred librarianship) 
(4), which he patterns after the practice of lectio divina (Robertson 2011).   An important part of this 
process is the final, contemplatio step.  In a number of ways, this is very similar to the reflexive and 
self-aware nature of autoethnography.  Both require a consciously thoughtful approach to our lives.  
While neither spirituality nor the reflective nature of autoethnography are strictly necessary for 
the practice of librarianship, theological or otherwise, I agree with Wigner that spiritual practice in 
a library setting allows the opportunity to think more deeply about the nature of our work and our 
relationships with our colleagues and our patrons.

Three spiritual values which have been exceptionally important for me and for this project are 
humility, gratitude, and an understanding of how library spaces can foster spirituality.  My under-
standing of humility has further deepened since my time in environmental studies, particularly 
my awareness of the subtleties and complexities of the humanities.  Librarianship is the ultimate 



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interdisciplinary field where we are continually reminded of the limitations of our own knowledge 
and the need for collaboration with others.

Gratitude is an additional and important dimension of spirituality (Steindl-Rast and Grun 2012), 
and there is a specific way that it is relevant to this project.  During the 1990s, I conducted disser-
tation research in northern Tanzania on the relationship between cattle-keeping pastoralist com-
munities and large-scale conservation and development projects.  The then Diocese of Arusha (now 
an Archdiocese) was heavily involved in development work in the area and had a specific program 
focused on assisting pastoral communities with issues of land rights.  The experience of doing re-
search on the Church’s efforts, supporting their work, and being supported by them had a very 
profound impact upon me.  I have enduring gratitude to this community for the intellectual and 
material support it provided to me during the early phases of this research.  This includes specific 
gratitude to the nuns of the Diocese’s guest house who aided me during a bout of malaria. Now, a 
quarter of century later, I find myself working at a Catholic institution of higher education where I 
have an opportunity through my library service to repay what was freely given to me.  

Finally, Grenert (2020) focuses on “theological libraries as spaces for spiritual formation,” but I 
would argue that all libraries can serve this purpose.  In a small way, the “Bibles at the ResearcHub” 
4 collection described below can be seen as a small “sacred space” that breaks down the vision of 
an academic library as a purely intellectual project with little or no connection to other parts of our 
lives.   This fits with PC’s strategic goal of “integrating interdisciplinary experience with personal, 
professional, and spiritual development” and with an interest in the academic library world gener-
ally, and our library in particular, of supporting the whole student. 

Undergraduate Teaching Experience
While I lack theological expertise, I have significant experience teaching undergraduates and work-
ing with them on research projects.  This provides a complementary expertise to the faculty’s disci-
plinary expertise.  Librarians with undergraduate teaching experience tend to be good at assisting 
students early on in their research projects, a phase that has been identified as the most difficult 
for many students, particularly early in their college careers (see, e.g., Head 2013).  This benefits 
students at PC and provides me with an opportunity to enhance my knowledge of theology when 
directly or indirectly collaborating with theology and other faculty.  An example of indirect collabo-
ration is the creation of online research guides either at the disciplinary level or, when necessary, 
for specific courses.5  I have found that creating material for students is far more educational for 
me than just studying a topic on my own.

I have also worked with several theology and DWC faculty by providing library instruction 
and support for their classes.  This experience has provided access to their syllabi and research 
prompts, creating an opportunity to discuss learning outcomes.  These insights allow a better sense 
of what information resources students need for their research projects.  This opportunity has been 
particularly important because, as a data librarian and interdisciplinary social scientist, my previ-
ous collaborations have been with natural scientists and other social scientists.  A major challenge 
has been the nature of “data” and “primary sources” required by undergraduates for their theology 
research projects.  One discovery has been that the quality of collaborations and communications 
with faculty is often more important than the quantity.  I have found myself learning more during 
a sustained interaction with one specific faculty member than through short emails to a dozen or 
more faculty.



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RELEVANT PROJECTS

One of the most important things I did to increase my subject knowledge and expertise was to find 
a theology-focused library project that would be useful to students and educational to me.  A major 
initial inspiration for my interest in theology was the “where’s a Bible?” question.  So, I embarked 
on a mission to create a user-friendly tool for students, the “Bibles at the ResearcHub” collection.  
This theology-focused library project has been useful to students, enhanced my awareness of the 
library’s ability to support the undergraduate study of theology, and has been educational for me.  
In an abstract way, I knew there were many versions of the Bible, but I really did not know much 
more.  Working on this project broadened my knowledge.  It has provided me with new opportu-
nities for intra-library collaboration, working with our Department of Collections Services, and 
continued collaboration with theology faculty in order to deepen my understanding of theological 
librarianship.

The creation of this collection was not always without strains.  Among the twenty Bibles, I had 
selected, ten Catholic and ten non-Catholic, were the Living Bible and the New Living Translation.  
One theology professor was critical of the inclusion of such paraphrase and “thought-for-thought” 
translations in the display.  As a librarian and social scientist, I felt that while they might not be 
well suited for serious biblical studies work, they are important as socio-cultural artifacts.  A com-
promise was reached, and this warning, “NOT recommended as a source for theological research 
or study of the Bible,” was added to these items’ descriptions.  Similarly, “Recommended by the PC 
Theology Dept” was added to the descriptions of several Bibles.  The process of reaching this com-
promise was itself a useful window into the discipline of theology.   

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the PC library like others was physically closed, and the 
whole display was made available online.6  Links to full-text online versions of the Bibles in the col-
lection were provided whenever possible.  Now that the library is open again, the physical display 
has returned and has been publicized on social media by our Media Support and Outreach Coordi-
nator, and the physical collection has been supplemented by the online one developed during the 
pandemic.  Students now have multiple opportunities to discover and study these texts.

The PC library has memberships in several relevant organizations that I found helpful during 
my exploration of theological librarianship, such as the Catholic Library Association, but we have 
not fully realized the benefits of these memberships for the work described here.  An unexpected 
benefit of the COVID pandemic is that many organizations are hosting online meetings, without 
the requirement to travel.  So, such organizations and their online meetings and events have been 
another resource for me to draw upon.

Lastly, I have sought to broaden this discussion to include all the librarians at PC.  In fact, we 
have had several preliminary conversations about “What it means to be an academic library at a 
Catholic and Dominican institution.”  It is very important to be intentional and formal about such 
a process, as informal conversations and initiatives run the danger of falling victim to the “benign 
neglect” problem noted above.  A joint meeting of our Research and Education and Collections 
Services Groups had been scheduled for April 2020 to discuss this very topic. Our initial, tentative 
institutional efforts were overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on academia.  
However, it is again something that we are now focusing upon. 



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Image 1 - Bible Display in January 2022 (note the QR code on the upper right poster which leads to the online 
Bible Guide). Megan Lessard/Phillips Memorial Library, Providence College.



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THINGS TO DO

There are also some possible strategies we have not fully explored.  Butler (2015) suggests that 
organizations such as Atla could organize meetings, training sessions, and online resources for 
librarians such as myself (39-40).  While the pandemic did offer the unexpected benefit of allowing 
us to engage more with groups such as this, we at PC do need to investigate further the opportu-
nities available to us through Atla and other relevant organizations.  Another related, important 
approach is to devote more effort to networking and researching what other institutions similar to 
PC are doing. 

A second major strategy would be a greater prioritization of Collections Services as part of the 
library’s work to support the undergraduate study of theology.  While there has been some success 
in cultivating relationships with individual faculty, a more systematic approach to managing our 
theology collection requires a stronger programmatic relationship between the library and the The-
ology Department and DWC program here at PC.  Small steps have been taken in this area with the 
library promoting open textbooks and other open educational resources to the DWC program and a 
DWC Textbook Program that makes all the DWC readings available to students as reserve material.

DISCUSSION

There are a couple of general takeaways from the PC experience.  First, despite PC’s unique insti-
tutional characteristics, I suspect that I am far from alone in this situation.  Butler’s 2015 survey 
demonstrated the degree to which librarians supporting the study of theology at undergraduate 
institutions often lack theological expertise.  My own anecdotal experience and conversations with 
library colleagues at PC and elsewhere has further convinced me of the soundness of her findings 
and the resulting impact this has on undergraduates at colleges such as PC with significant theologi-
cal content in the curriculum.

My second takeaway is more optimistic.  My experience does provide a partial roadmap for oth-
ers in my position.  While I lack theological expertise, I was able to use my expertise in other areas 
- undergraduate teaching and research mentoring, and environmental studies - to complement the 
disciplinary expertise of those theology faculty teaching undergraduates.  I would also like to stress 
the importance of a project or something similar to keep one focused.  Here at PC, that project was 
the “Bibles at the ResearcHub” collection that was created in collaboration with Collections Services 
and a student worker.  This was a good example of involving undergraduate student workers in 
significant library projects which further supports our educational mission.

As a possible future research project, it would be useful to survey the “demand” for theologi-
cal librarianship expertise at undergraduate-focused institutions.  This would complement Butler’s 
work which looked at the supply side of theological librarianship at undergraduate institutions.   
This could be done through a survey of course catalogs (Glazner et al 2004) and/or a survey of 
librarians at such institutions.  Much qualitative work has been done on core curriculum/general 
education at Catholic colleges and universities (see, e.g., Brown 2020), but there appears to have 
been much less quantitative survey work in this area.

CONCLUSION

Finally, I will close with a brief description of the emotional high point of my work in this area.  One 
pre-pandemic evening when I was working a shift at our ResearcHub, one of the theology faculty 



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with whom I had collaborated, a Dominican Father, arrived with his Development of Western Civi-
lization class and his co-teacher, a local Rabbi.  They wanted their students to compare the style 
and content of different Bibles.  Because of the creation of the “Bibles at the ResearcHub” collection, 
the knowledge I gained creating that collection, and the assistance of one of our circulation staff, 
we were quickly able to fill a book cart with Bibles and wheel it into the library classroom where 
the class was meeting.  As I left the room, the Bibles were being energetically passed around, and I 
was filled with a feeling of great satisfaction that we were able to quickly provide the texts needed 
by faculty and students, instead of just pointing toward the BS section of the collection.  Now that 
we have returned to in-person teaching, I am looking forward to similar experiences in the future.

WORKS CITED

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https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/providence/detail.action?docID=4659044#
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/providence/detail.action?docID=4659044#
https://jstor.org/stable/1720120
https://doi.org/10.31046/tl.v10i1.455


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1 4

ENDNOTES

1  This extremely brief analysis was doing by examining Butler’s (2014) survey results.

2  For a more complete view of the DWC program, go to https://western-civilization.providence.edu/.

3  See Luca (2019) for an exception to this general trend.

4  At the time, ResearcHub was our name of our reference desk.  Since then, it has been changed to Research Support 

Desk.

5  Our recently revised Theology Research Guide, which is one of the most heavily used guides at PC, can be seen at 

https://providence.libguides.com/theologyNewSp22 .

6  The latest version of the Bible Guide can be found here, https://providence.libguides.com/bible .

https://western-civilization.providence.edu/
https://providence.libguides.com/theologyNewSp22
https://providence.libguides.com/bible

