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Conference
Erica Durham, Committee Chair

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

• Erica Durham, Columbia Theological Seminary, Chair
• Cindy Aalders, Regent College
• Miranda Bennett, University of South Carolina
• Robert Burgess, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
• Gerone Lockhart, New Brunswick Theological Seminary
• Robert Roethemeyer, Concordia Theological Seminary
• Christopher Spilker, Sacred Heart Major Seminary
• Paul Tippey, Asbury Theological Seminary
• Megan Welsh, University of Colorado Boulder
• Gillian Harrison Cain, Atla Director of Member Programs

REPORT ON ATLA ANNUAL 2019

I welcome you to the traditional, ancestral, unceded lands of the 
hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking Musqueam people.

–Alec Dan

The conference opened with a generous welcome from Alec Dan, one 
of Musqueam’s Knowledge Keepers. It drew our attention to the pride 
and ownership that First Nations people have for their culture and the 
loving care with which they welcome visitors to it (Metro Vancouver 
is home to eleven First Nations).

Situated in the heart of downtown Vancouver, the Shera-
ton Wall Centre afforded conference attendees a central location 
with dozens of options for dining, nine water taxi docks, sunset views 
from seven beaches, short walks to one famous library, and the joys 
of 240 shops and businesses on Granville Island.

Over thirty adventurous theological librarians traveled to the 
University of British Columbia for a pre-conference excursion. 
Over 200 conference attendees delighted in the arrival of snacks 
each day (chicken and waffles!!) at the exhibit hall where twenty-

http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/first-nation-relations/first-nations/Pages/default.aspx


4  ANNUAL YEARBOOK

five exhibitors showered attendees with new products and cool 
swag (Brill brought the perforated notebooks again!!!). Attendees 
from fifteen countries attended fifty-five concurrent sessions and 
pre-conference workshops.

Three plenary speakers for the conference gave practical and rele-
vant lectures related to the Organizational Ends and Core Values of 
Atla. The topics addressed were: Open Access (widest possible access 
to relevant information and ideas), Accelerating Allyship (hospital-
ity, inclusion, and diversity), and Evolving Faith Traditions (growth 
in wisdom). Ask a colleague who attended the conference to share 
the four definitions of Indigenization!

Especially meaningful to me this year were the four memorials and 
the recognition of ten retiring members. I was thankful to be reminded 
of the diversity of paths our members have taken, spanning decades 
of faithful service to the field of theological librarianship.

The two “business” meetings were quite good! Executive Director 
Brenda Bailey-Hainer recognized the dedicated work of the Atla staff 
and reported on the excellent fiscal numbers (lots of them). Outgoing 
president Jenny Bartholomew gave a heartfelt overview of the hard 
work of the Board during the re-branding process. The commitment 
of the twelve board members to the Association is evident (at least to 
me). Gentle and hopeful, the words outgoing President Bartholomew 
offered should be counted as one of the best presidential addresses 
in recent history.

The Inaugural Atla International Theological Librarian Leadership 
Institute took place at the conference this year. The leadership team 
provided a week of seminars, conference attendance, and library tours 
sharing best practices in theological librarianship with three librar-
ians from around the world who were seeking training in theological 
librarianship.

A huge thank you to the nine members of the Conference Commit-
tee, the two new committee members, and the two outgoing members. 
We will be hard at work planning for the 74th  Annual Confer-
ence (2020) in Detroit, Michigan (48226)! You can count on it!

https://atlaannual2019.sched.com/overview/type/Plenary
https://www.atla.com/member-benefits/individual/institute/
https://www.atla.com/member-benefits/individual/institute/
https://www.atla.com/event/atla-annual-2020/
https://www.atla.com/event/atla-annual-2020/


Committee & Task Force Reports  5

2019–2019 COMMITTEE: [front, left to right] Cindy Aalders, Gerone Lockhart, Miranda 
Bennett; [rear, left to right] Megan Welsh, Erica Durham, Chris Spilker, Robert Roethemeyer, 
Robert Burgess; [not pictured] Paul Tippey


