









































Panel Presentation 87

Envisioning Regional 
Library Groups
Elizabeth Young Miller, Moravian College and Moravian Theological Seminary 
Stacie Schmidt, Biola University 
Gillian Harrison Cain, Director of Member Programs, Atla

ABSTR ACT The past presidents of the Southeastern Pennsylvania 
Theological Library Association (SEPTLA) and the Southern California 
Theological Library Association (SCATLA), along with a representative 
from Atla, share the challenges and benefits of regional groups and 
how Atla can offer support. Panelists discuss ways their regional 
organizations can remain relevant and move forward.

SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY 
ASSOCIATION (SEPTLA)

From May 2018 to May 2019, I (Elizabeth Young Miller) served as the 
president of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Theological Library Asso-
ciation, also known as SEPTLA. With the election of a new president 
during our spring 2019 meeting, I am happily stepping into the role 
of past president. Before I share more details about SEPTLA, I would 
like to highlight some information from a March 2019 Ithaka S+R 
issue brief entitled “Restructuring Library Collaboration: Strategy, 
Membership, and Governance.”1

During a special Executive Committee meeting in April, my 
SEPTLA colleagues and I discussed this article by Roger C. Schon-
feld. The author explains that, historically, library collaborations have 
focused on one of the following: resource sharing, shared systems, 
and/or collective purchasing.2 Some of these partnerships may apply 
to your organizations. Certainly, some of these collaborations are 
relevant to SEPTLA. What seemed to resonate with the Executive 
Committee involved the importance of what Schonfeld refers to as 
trust networks—collaborative endeavors that revolve around shared 
priorities.3 In the last several years, SEPLTA has attempted to discern 
what the priorities of the organization are and how these goals can 



88  ATL A 2019 PROCEEDINGS

be realized. Certainly, assessment is important for any organization, 
and Schonfeld recommends a regular risk assessment process.4 The 
Executive Committee’s discussion of this article was a form of assess-
ment. With an upcoming election and no viable nominations, we were 
trying to figure out what our next steps as an organization might be. I 
found Schonfeld’s section labeled “Directions Forward” most helpful.5 
The Executive Committee wanted to honor our past and be realistic 
about our future. Before delving into more specific challenges and 
opportunities facing SEPTLA, I would like to share some background 
information on the organization.

SEPTLA was founded in 1964. My colleague Jim Humble, who is the 
current SEPTLA Archivist, shared with me that the earliest minutes 
from 1968 center on discussions surrounding cooperative purchas-
ing, a focus mentioned by Schonfeld in his issue brief.6 Currently, 
there are seventeen institutional members of SEPTLA, representing 
Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, and Protestant graduate-level, 
faith-based institutions. SEPTLA is composed entirely of institu-
tional members. Individual membership is not an option at this time. 
SEPTLA member libraries are located between eastern Pennsylvania 
and central New Jersey. Collectively, our libraries hold over 2,000,000 
volumes related to theology and connected disciplines.7 SEPTLA’s 
annual dues are $75 per institution and aid with professional devel-
opment.

However, the benefits of membership extend beyond professional 
development to include reciprocal borrowing. With a special form and 
appropriate ID, faculty, staff, and students from any SEPTLA institution 
can directly borrow books from another SEPTLA library; this reciprocal 
agreement greatly expands the resources available to library users. In 
addition to reciprocal borrowing, SEPTLA provides valuable networking 
opportunities, both in person and virtually. The organization hosts both 
a fall and a spring meeting, and in the past has received funding from 
Atla to bring outside speakers for a biennial spring workshop. At the 
spring 2019 meeting, the past president, Myka Kennedy Stephens, 
offered a hands-on workshop on Slack, an online communication 
tool, similar in some respects to AOL Instant Messenger. SEPTLA 
now has channels for its interest groups and other topics of interest 
such as collection development. The hope is that Slack can be used to 
create an expertise list, providing a means to share best practices and 



Panel Presentation 89

build community.  Slack can certainly be used for networking and to 
promote events and opportunities, such as the Atla scholarship. In 
the past, SEPTLA has awarded first-time Atla conference attendees 
money to attend the national conference. At our spring meeting, the 
organization decided to open the application to any SEPTLA librarian, 
with preference given to first-time attendees and presenters. In order 
to offer these and other benefits to our membership, SEPTLA has a 
well-defined leadership structure, comprised of several committees, 
interest groups, and specific task forces.

Both elected and appointed officers serve in leadership roles 
within SEPTLA. The Executive Committee comprises a secretary, 
treasurer, president, and past president; all of these officers are 
elected by the membership. With the exception of the treasurer, who 
serves a four-year term, each of these positions is for a one-year 
term, with the opportunity for re-election to a second year term, if 
desired. In addition to the Executive Committee, there are appointed 
officers who serve on the Continuing Education Committee, as well 
as the Communications Committee. The Continuing Education 
Committee oversees programming for the fall and spring meetings 
and consists of a chair and three additional members. The 
Communications Committee is composed of five members: a website 
manager, newsletter editor, archivist, and two at-large members. 
The website manager and newsletter editor serve as co-chairs of the 
Communications Committee.

In addition to the Executive, Continuing Education, and Communi-
cations Committees, SEPTLA has two interest groups and special task 
forces as needed. SEPTLA’s current interest groups include Research 
Services and Cataloging and Metadata, both of which now have chan-
nels in SEPTLA’s Slack workspace. Currently, there are no active task 
forces. However, in the last four years, there have been several. Task 
forces are created by the Executive Committee with a specific charge  
For example, the Future Task Force arose around the time that Gillian 
Harrison Cain led a SEPTLA meeting, sharing about other regional 
Atla groups. The Future Task Force developed a survey and facili-
tated several brainstorming sessions, encouraging members to share 
their ideas and vision for the future of SEPTLA. These discussions 
have been helpful for the organization. Schonfeld in his issue brief 
emphasizes that “[i]t can be problematic to repurpose a given trust 



90  ATL A 2019 PROCEEDINGS

network for a new purpose without carefully assessing its governance 
and capabilities.”8 The SEPTLA leadership certainly agrees with this 
statement. In 2017 and 2018, I chaired the Membership Task Force, 
which I believe stemmed from the work of the Future Task Force. The 
Membership Task Force surveyed regional Atla groups, as well as 
other regional library groups in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, asking 
questions about membership criteria, dues, programming, leader-
ship, etc. The Executive Committee has followed up on some of the 
recommendations of this task force. The most recent task force was 
the Resource Sharing Task Force, which completed its charge in the 
fall of 2018. The Resource Sharing Task Force examined databases 
that member libraries subscribe to and explored the possibility of 
consortial purchasing, with a special emphasis on the Digital Theo-
logical Library (DTL). Collective purchasing is nothing new, as the 
Ithaka S+R issue brief highlights.9

Clearly the work of recent task forces has aided with revitalization 
efforts. However, I would be remiss if I did not mention the 
challenges individual SEPTLA libraries and SEPTLA as a regional 
group have faced. Nearly all libraries experience financial pressures. 
Budgets are shrinking, which affects personnel and collections. 
Being cognizant of these issues, the SEPTLA Resource Sharing 
Task Force was formed, and most recently there is interest in 
cooperative collection development. At the spring 2019 SEPTLA 
meeting, members asked if our bylaws should include a financial 
commitment to develop our individual collections and whether a 
collection overlap analysis using something like GreenGlass might 
be beneficial. Change seems to be the constant at our individual 
institutions, which has had a direct impact on SEPTLA operations. 
In an e-mail shared with the SEPTLA membership in advance of our 
spring 2019 meeting, Past President Myka Kennedy Stephens and I 
highlighted that two-thirds of our institutions have had a new library 
director in the last five years; this does not account for other staffing 
changes both inside and outside of the library. With this flux, it has 
been challenging to find volunteers willing to serve in leadership 
roles within SEPTLA and, as a result, several positions remained 
vacant this year. Over time, this makes for an unsustainable model. 
At the special Executive Committee meeting in April, the Executive 
Committee discussed several ways forward, including a three-year 



Panel Presentation 91

rotating leadership model, whereby somebody from each institution 
would serve first as secretary, then as president, and finally as past 
president. This is a model that we are still fleshing out. In addition 
to discussing this idea, the Executive Committee will most likely be 
exploring how we can do a better job reaching out to new library 
directors to promote the collective wisdom and benefits of SEPTLA. 
Networking is not only valuable for changes in leadership, but can 
aid the organization as several institutions undergo mergers and 
moves. Supporting one another and sharing words of wisdom will 
be helpful. Slack and the SEPTLA listserv, hosted by Atla, can aid us 
in these endeavors. These modes of communication also help keep 
members connected, which can sometimes be challenging given 
our geography. In the past, reaching a quorum for changes to the 
bylaws and constitution have been an issue. Now, however, SEPTLA 
is using video conferencing, such as Zoom, for business meetings, as 
well as workshops. SEPTLA is not a “perfect” institution. However, 
the members are trying to look for opportunities to address our 
challenges and remain relevant.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY ASSOCIA-
TION (SCATLA)

The Southern California Theological Library Association (SCATLA) 
was founded in 1988 with the goal of being a theological library 
group like SEPTLA. SCATLA currently has twenty-seven institutional 
members, with two tiers of membership available: full members and 
affiliate members. SCATLA libraries are located all over Southern 
California, but are predominantly located in the Los Angeles region. 

The following timeline was put together via material found in the 
SCATLA archives and the SCATLA website: 

1988: SCATLA founded by six original institutions (Azusa Pacific 
University, Biola University, Claremont School of Theology, Fuller 
Theological Seminary, The Master’s Seminary, St. John’s Semi-
nary)
1989: First goal: creating a union list of periodicals 
1990: Implemented free interlibrary loan for member libraries
1993: Reciprocal Borrowing program created
1999: Listserv created, almost immediately discarded



92  ATL A 2019 PROCEEDINGS

2003–2006: Bylaws codified
2006: “No formal structural tie with ATLA” acknowledged via 
email
2018: Listserv attempt #2, hosted by Atla 

The Reciprocal Borrowing Program has been SCATLA’s most signif-
icant project. In its original iteration, graduate students from full 
member libraries were interviewed by library staff to determine if they 
needed specific resources at another full member library. Location 
was not an acceptable reason to use another library. In its current iter-
ation, graduate students and faculty from a full member library may 
go to any other full member library for any reason, including location. 

To be a full member of SCATLA, the interested library must have 
graduate programs in religion or theology (any faith tradition or 
background), have at least 10,000 print volumes, have at least one 
full-time librarian, and be accredited by a Council of Higher Education 
Accreditation (CHEA)-recognized organization.10 Reciprocal 
borrowing and interlibrary loan (ILL) are available for full members 
of SCATLA. Affiliate membership is available for any library that does 
not meet the qualifications of full membership. Reciprocal borrowing 
and ILL are not available for affiliate member libraries. Both full and 
affiliate members are welcome to attend SCATLA meetings. There are 
currently no dues for either full or affiliate membership.

There are three levels of leadership in SCATLA: secretary, vice 
president, and president. Individuals are voted in at the secretary 
level, and then move up into a new position each year. There are three 
SCATLA meetings a year, and members are required to attend at least 
one meeting in six to keep their member status. The yearly meet-
ings comprise two business meetings and one professional develop-
ment meeting. Historically, physical attendance is required; however, 
SCATLA recently started experimenting with digital attendance via 
Zoom.

There are a number of challenges facing SCATLA. The library 
world has changed since 1989; prominent concerns at the time of 
SCATLA’s founding, like union lists of periodicals, are less pressing 
in 2019. The requirements for full membership have also seen some 
recent discussion, as some libraries in Southern California that would 
like to become full members of SCATLA do not have a full-time librar-



Panel Presentation 93

ian. The continuous turnover in leadership can sometimes lead to 
reduced effectiveness, as new librarians to SCATLA are frequently 
elected to leadership and need time to acclimate. Outdated and inef-
fective documentation is another challenge, as there is little docu-
mentation available beyond the bylaws. Finally, low stakes leading to 
apathy is another challenge facing SCATLA. Does SCATLA have a clear 
mission in 2019? How can SCATLA articulate its reason for existing in 
a way that increases member engagement? It can be difficult to make 
updates or changes in a lethargic environment. 

Ithaka S+R’s report entitled “Restructuring Library Collaboration” 
provides a helpful schema for understanding future growth and 
development in collaborative library groups.11

Mission
The SCATLA Archives currently sit in several file folders, inacces-
sible to anyone but their current holder. How can SCATLA members 
make these documents accessible to membership? Will digitization 
and dissemination assist SCATLA in remembering its mission?

Membership
SCATLA’s website is hosted by Atla. With the Atla rebranding and 
new website, SCATLA’s website is finally up to date. Will this allow 
SCATLA to attract new members?

Governance
Digital participation in the triannual meetings is now allowed, with 
the goal of allowing all stakeholders and members to participate 
in meaningful ways regardless of their physical location. Will this 
increase participation in governance and involvement?

Funding
SCATLA currently has no funding. Is it appropriate to charge dues? 
If so, how much and for what purposes?

Closing
SCATLA has served the theological library community in Southern 
California well for over three decades. For the latest on SCATLA, 
please visit: https://www.atla.com/learning-engagement/groups/
rg/scatla/.

https://www.atla.com/learning-engagement/groups/rg/scatla/
https://www.atla.com/learning-engagement/groups/rg/scatla/


94  ATL A 2019 PROCEEDINGS

ATLA & REGIONAL GROUPS – AN OVERVIEW

When I started at Atla just over four years ago, I was a little confused 
and intrigued by the relationship between Atla and regional groups. 
Unlike other national library associations that have regional chap-
ters and affiliates that are officially related to the national orga-
nization, the regional groups that associate themselves with Atla 
have no formal affiliation. Over the past several years I’ve taken 
time to research and learn about the various regional groups and 
consider how Atla and regional groups can work together to grow 
and strengthen opportunities for religious studies and theological 
librarians to connect and learn.

In the course of this presentation I will share information about 
regional groups and their organizational structures; the member-
ship models they use; projects, programs, and services offered by 
regional groups; and the frequency and typical agendas of regional 
group meetings. I will also share what current support Atla provides 
to regional groups and offer some thoughts and suggestions on how 
we could collaborate more in the future.

All the information presented has been compiled by Atla staff 
who reviewed the Atla website, regional group websites, and conver-
sations with regional group leaders. This information was origi-
nally compiled in 2016 and has been updated annually, with the last 
updates completed in May 2019.

Regional Groups & Organizational Structures
Currently, nineteen active regional groups across North America 
consider themselves to have a relationship to Atla in some way, 
shape, or form. There are two distinct types of groups: those that are 
formally organized and often incorporated at the institution level 
with a library council or committee, or a shared library; and regional 
groups that could be considered a library association, consortium, 
or cooperative and may or may not be incorporated.

The Northeast US has a concentration of groups reflecting the 
higher concentration of seminaries, colleges, and universities in that 



Panel Presentation 95

area, with other groups scattered across the US and two groups in 
Canada. Atla’s relationships with library associations outside North 
America, such as BETH, ANZTLA, ForATL, and others, are better 
characterized as peer-to-peer.

The following eight groups are organized at the institution level:
• Associated Canadian Theological Schools of Trinity Western 

University (ACTS)
• Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS)
• Boston Theological Institute / Boston Theological Interreli-

gious Consortium (BTI)
• Graduate Theological Union (GTU)
• Minnesota Theological Library Association (MTLA) of Minne-

sota Consortium of Theological Schools (MCTS)
• Theological Education Association of Mid-America (TEAM-A)
• Toronto School of Theology Library Committee (TSTLC)
• Washington Theological Consortium Libraries (WTC)

Eleven groups are considered a library association, consortium, or 
cooperative:

• Carolinas Theological Library Consortium (CTLC)
• Chicago Area Theological Library Association (CATLA)
• Florida Theological Library Association (FTLA)
• New York Area Theological Library Association (NYATLA)



96  ATL A 2019 PROCEEDINGS

• Ohio Theological Library Association (OTLA)
• Pacific Northwest Religious Studies and Theological Library 

Association (PNWRSTLA)
• Southeastern Pennsylvania Theological Library Association 

(SEPTLA)
• Southern California Theological Library Association (SCATLA)
• Southwest Area Theological Library Association (SWATLA)
• Tennessee Theological Library Association (TTLA)
• Theological Library Cooperative of Arizona (TLCA)

These groups were founded at various points over the last seventy 
years since Atla was founded in 1946. A large number of groups (BTI, 
CATLA, GTU, SEPTLA, OTLA, TTLA, NYATLA) established them-
selves in the 1960’s and 1970’s, with only four groups (ACTS of Trin-
ity Western University, ACTS, SCATLA, SWATLA) starting in the 
1980’s and 1990’s. The 2000’s saw four new groups (CTLC, FTLA, 
TLCA, PNWRTSLA) founded. There has been discussion of a Rocky 
Mountain group starting in the future, possibly resurrecting the 
group that was loosely formed to host the 2015 Atla Annual Confer-
ence. Several groups not reflected in the active list were formed to 
host the conference and then disbanded.

MEMBERS

Atla has a hybrid membership model, both individuals and institu-
tions or organizations may join Atla.

Individual membership categories include Individual, Student, 
Retired, and Emeritus and, per the Atla Bylaws, these persons must 
be “engaged in professional library or scholarly communications 
work in theological or religious fields or [have] a demonstrated, bona 
fide interest in the literature of religion, theological librarianship, 
or the purposes and work of the Association.”

Institutional membership in Atla is for libraries of accredited 
institutions of higher education that support programs in theology 
and religious studies, or for libraries at non-degree granting 
organizations that maintain one or more significant collections 
of primarily theological, religious, or ecclesiastical research 
material. While each institutional member must appoint a member 



Panel Presentation 97

representative, those representatives are not individual members, 
and some choose to join as an individual member in order to receive 
those membership benefits.

Atla Affiliate membership is for businesses, organizations, 
publishers, vendors, ineligible, and candidate libraries that have a 
demonstrated record of support for theological librarianship and 
the purposes and work of the Association.

Several membership models are employed across the nineteen 
active regional groups:

• Individuals Only—One group, TTLA, has a people-only model 
where only individuals may join.

• Hybrid (Individuals & Institutions)—One group also has a 
hybrid model where both individuals and institutions can 
join. However, different from Atla, their membership model 
specifies that permanent part-time and full-time staff at insti-
tutional members are members and that persons who are not 
employed at member institutions may join individually.

• Institutions/Libraries – The model followed by the remainder 
of groups are for institutions or libraries to be members. Some 
of the criteria for membership include:

 — Seminaries associated with a school
 — Accredited by ATS or specific regional body
 — Graduate-level programs or educational institution
 — Share a library or have their own library
 — Full-time librarian
 — Limited to, or specifically not limited to, Atla members

The number of members in regional groups varies widely. Of the 
seventeen groups with institutional/library membership models, 
there are groups with as few as four and as many as thirty-one, 
with the average being twelve members. The dues range across the 
groups as well, with the average institutional dues being 50 USD 
and 10 USD for individuals. Members may also make other finan-
cial contributions to the group such as hosting meetings (providing 
space and meals), participating in pay-your-way meals, or meeting 
commitments agreed to at the institution level.



98  ATL A 2019 PROCEEDINGS

PROJECTS, PROGRAMS, AND SERVICES

While most often valued for their networking and opportunity for 
face-to-face connection with colleagues, regional groups may also 
provide projects, programs, and services for the benefit of members. 
Some of the offerings of regional groups include:

• Continuing education (in-person or virtual)
• ILL
• Reciprocal borrowing
• Cross-registration
• Shared reference (in-person or virtual)
• Group purchasing
• Shared storage
• Digitization/preservation/digital exhibits
• Courier
• Grants/scholarships
• Other
• Not all groups offer all these benefits, and some groups offer 

no benefits other than an opportunity for members to gather 
and share with each other.

MEETINGS

Gatherings of regional groups typically have many of the same 
components, however their frequency and organization differ from 
group to group.

Some groups only meet annually; others meet two or three times 
per year. The coordinating councils or committees of groups orga-
nized at the institutional level meet more often, sometimes monthly. 
Some groups have specific requirements for their meetings: at least 
one group has attendance specifications, and the bylaws of another 
group require them to meet at the Atla Annual Conference.

In-person is the heavily favored meeting mode for groups. 
However, as attendance and participation has been waning for some 
groups, they are beginning to experiment with virtual meetings. 
Typically, meetings last two to four hours, often with a meal asso-
ciated.



Panel Presentation 99

The agenda for regional group meetings varies and is often 
dependent on the frequency with which the group meets, the 
programs and services the group administers, where the meeting 
is being held, and other factors. Usually a professional development 
program is included in at least one meeting per year if a group meets 
multiple times throughout the year, and professional development 
is often the highlight of groups that only meet once per year. Shar-
ing of institutional news and developments is another staple of 
agendas, with some groups instituting a formal institutional report 
process where members submit information electronically, and 
others taking time for a round robin of sharing from meeting attend-
ees. If the group is formally organized, then attending to business 
matters and other group administration work is often included.

RELATIONSHIP TO ATLA

As stated earlier, no groups have a formal relationship with Atla. 
Regional groups are not affiliates or chapters of Alta. Two groups 
do refer to Atla specifically in their organizing document: FTLA 
requires institutional membership in Atla to be a member, and 
SWATLA’s bylaws require a meeting of the group to be held at Atla 
Annual. Otherwise there are no formal associations between the 
organizations, and some groups specifically have language stating 
you do not have to be a member of Atla to participate. Consequently, 
not all members of regional groups are members of Atla. And not 
all members of Atla are aware of the regional groups in their area.

That said, Atla has a long history of working with regional groups. 
Currently, Atla supports regional groups by:

• Promoting the organization and its activities in the Atla News-
letter, whether that be announcements of upcoming meet-
ings, reports of meetings, or information about current group 
projects.

• Providing funding for programming at a regional meeting. 
The Professional Development Committee (PDC) offers funds 
to assist regional groups and has a list of pre-packaged work-
shops (leaders and content identified) that a group can select 
from to have at their meeting, funded by Atla.



100  ATL A 2019 PROCEEDINGS

• Providing an informational website for a regional group. Atla 
selected and implemented a new website technology and will 
be implementing a new communities platform that will allow 
regional groups to have much more control over editing the 
content on the group’s page—more information to come soon.

• Providing a discussion list for the group.

Atla sees a great opportunity to collaborate closely with regional 
groups to strengthen both of our organizations. Since our member-
ships are not the same, obviously there is potential for membership 
growth by both Atla and regional groups by promoting each other’s 
organizations and benefits. Attending Atla Annual is not practical or 
possible for all members, so working with regional groups to offer 
programming locally would benefit members of both organizations. 
Additional ways that regional groups and Atla could collaborate 
include:

• Additional technology support – virtual meetings, project soft-
ware

• Additional programming support – pre-packaged program-
ming

• Financial relationship
• Communications
• Member recruitment and retention
• Leadership development
• Regionalized member projects and programs
• Handling the “business” aspects of a group

Atla welcomes an active discussion with leaders of regional groups 
to explore what working together will look like in the future. We 
welcome thoughts and comments from members of both organizations 
to help us shape a better set of benefits and opportunities for all of you.



Panel Presentation 101

ENDNOTES

1 Roger C. Schonfeld, “Restructuring Library Collaboration: 
Strategy, Membership, Governance,” Ithaka S+R, last modified 6 
March 2019, https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.311147.

2 Schonfeld, “Restructuring Library Collaboration,” 3.
3 Schonfeld, “Restructuring Library Collaboration,” 6.
4 Schonfeld, “Restructuring Library Collaboration, 16.
5 Schonfeld, “Restructuring Library Collaboration, 16–17.
6 Schonfeld, “Restructuring Library Collaboration, 5.
7 “Southeastern Pennsylvania Theological Library Association,” 

accessed May 23, 2019, https://septla.org/.
8 Schonfeld, “Restructuring Library Collaboration,” 12.
9 Schonfeld, “Restructuring Library Collaboration,” 5.
10 Southern California Theological Library Association, “SCATLA 

Bylaws,” https://www.atla.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/
SCATLA-Bylaws.pdf.

11 Schonfeld, “Restructuring Library Collaboration.”

https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.311147
https://septla.org/
https://www.atla.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SCATLA-Bylaws.pdf
https://www.atla.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SCATLA-Bylaws.pdf

