









































Listen and Learn sessions  239

Measure TWYCE, Cut Once
How an Academic Library Is Engaging 
Vocationally Trained Alumni through 
Document Delivery
Adrienne Findley-Jones, University of Trinity College, University of Toronto

ABSTRACT Library services for alumni are difficult to navigate, but they are 
necessary for the ongoing relationships between alumni and their schools. 
Theological academic libraries are no different in the struggle to navigate, 
as their alumni can be cut off from necessary resources and research assis-
tance by any number of means. In expanding an existing document-delivery 
service to alumni, one library is seeking to keep the vocational alumni of 
two colleges connected to both their schools and the resources that helped 
shape their vocation and ecclesial identities. Through a survey, the needs 
of the alumni were assessed, and the resulting pilot project shows great 
hypothetical promise in improving alumni services.

INTRODUCTION

Asking any question pertaining to servicing alumni by an academic 
library will lead the inquirer to frustration. It inevitably leads to 
questions of cost, licensing for e-resources, and varieties of acces-
sibility to physical resources; some of those questions are easily an-
swered. Things like adherence with copyright compliance or other 
legal matters are included in the platform licenses available to the 
currently enrolled student community, faculty, and staff members; 
and depending on the university, these same items might be avail-
able to certain external library card holders for a fee. What about an 
academic library that has been key to formation for vocational and 
professional development and can continue to provide resources 
to assist in careers? Alumni from these academic settings go from 
having respected and reputable resources at their student fingertips 
to having little to no access whatsoever to those same resources by 
virtue of their graduation status. What is the responsibility of their 



240  atLa 2022 ProCeedinGs

school library to them? Does and should their school library continue 
to have responsibility to serve them? What is the ideal relationship 
of these alumni to their school library?

This paper describes how one university college library is at-
tempting to respond to the needs of vocationally trained alumni. The 
particulars make this response unique: the library in question is a 
dual-college library that supports academic and vocational training 
for clergy in predominantly one ecclesiastical tradition while also 
serving a secular undergraduate base. The same library provides a 
document-delivery service to the theological graduate students and 
both theology and humanities faculty at its two colleges. The primary 
goal of the new service described in this paper is to provide resources 
to the active alumni serving in pastorates as ordained clergy or in 
lay ministerial roles while remaining compliant with and in adher-
ence to university policies and procedures.

This paper is designed to lay out the process, from planning to 
proposal to pilot, for the Trinity-Wycliffe Church Express (TWYCE) 
alumni service at the John W. Graham Library at the University of 
Toronto in Canada. This paper will locate the Graham Library in its 
context as an academic library; in particular, its audience and focus. 
It will provide a literature review of expanded alumni services; it 
will then locate the Graham Library’s proposed pilot within that lit-
erature. It will describe the process used for learning what needs the 
alumni have and how the library could best fulfill those needs. It will 
discuss what worked and what proved difficult, and it will conclude 
by discussing the future for the post-pilot project.

CONTEXT

The John W. Graham Library was founded in 2000 as a refurbishment 
of the existing college library at the University of Trinity College, a 
federated college at the University of Toronto in Canada1. In its new 
foundation, the theological library collections from both University 
of Trinity College and Wycliffe College, both members of the Toron-
to School of Theology and accredited members of the Association 
of Theological Schools, were amalgamated into the single location. 

1 See https://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/discover/about/history/ and https://govern-
ingcouncil.utoronto.ca/system/files/import-files/ppjul012008i6021.pdf for details 
on how the Memorandum of Understanding works at the University of Toron-
to, Canada.

https://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/discover/about/history/
https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/system/files/import-files/ppjul012008i6021.pdf
https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/system/files/import-files/ppjul012008i6021.pdf


Listen and Learn sessions  241

There is an agreement of support between the two colleges for the 
maintenance and development of the collection, as well as financial 
support for the theological reference librarian position. As of 2021, 
the Graham Library houses more than 80,000 physical items. It is 
one of the 44 campus libraries in the University of Toronto Librar-
ies (UTL) system.

Both the Faculty of Divinity at Trinity2 and the faculty at Wycliffe 
College educate and train persons seeking ordained ministry, pri-
marily in the Anglican tradition, especially for the denominations 
of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States; ordination-seeking persons from other 
traditions are also welcomed. As members of the Toronto School of 
Theology, both Trinity and Wycliffe allow students from other TST 
schools to attend classes and be a part of communal life. Both col-
leges have provided residence to undergraduate students and to 
upper-year students.

The current alumni services provided by the Graham Library are 
as follows: an extramural card that allows access to the physical re-
sources housed only at the Graham Library, very limited access to 
the AtlaSerials® database, and a curbside pickup accessible through 
an online form on the library’s website. Alumni, like any member 
of the public, can access the UTL catalogue online but cannot make 
requests for items. During the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, 
a curbside pickup service was developed to accommodate the needs 
of students, faculty, and other community members. Since the re-
turn to campus in September 2021, the curbside pickup service re-
mained for alumni and non-conjoint students, as they did not have 
the necessary valid student identifiers to be allowed into the library 
or to request the items through the online catalogue. There has been 
a significant drop in usage for the curbside service, but, due to the 
number of non-conjoint students needing access to course texts and 
research items—as well as local, ordained alumni who have used the 
library—the service remains.

The document-delivery service at the Graham Library is called 
Graham InfoExpress. It provides physical items, links to electronic 
items, and scans to requesting faculty members from Trinity and 
Wycliffe Colleges; and it provides scans of journal articles, book chap-
ters, and interlibrary documents to Toronto School of Theology stu-

2 Also known as Trinity Divinity; the terms will be interchanged.



242  atLa 2022 ProCeedinGs

dents at the same colleges. It began in 2018, and is heavily modelled 
on an older, established service from the John M. Kelly Library at the 
University of St. Michael’s College (St. Mike’s). The library paraprofes-
sional technician who is the coordinator and operator of this service 
has been in the role since the inception of the Graham InfoExpress; 
thus, they would also be the one coordinating and operating TWYCE. 
The purpose of TWYCE is to expand this already existing document-
delivery service to a much larger alumni audience within Canada.

What evidence is there in the literature to support such a service 
expansion? Is there evidence of libraries having success in reaching 
out to their alumni and maintaining a relationship with them? What 
can the Graham Library learn from these libraries? We now turn to 
a review of the available literature.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN

There is no simple literature review for this proposal. Hundreds of 
articles have been written about how libraries have sought to en-
gage alumni, how to keep the interest of alumni, and how to provide 
the necessary services. The same question is being asked time and 
time again: What should be the library’s role in providing service 
to alumni? (Horava 2007; Flegg 2012; Sanville 2012; Smith, Street, 
and Wales 2007; Stachokas 2016; Weiner 2009). It is both encourag-
ing and disheartening to know that there has been no clear answer 
to this question yet. Most of the literature discusses the library as a 
service-provider, but also as a key part of the relationship between 
the university and its alumni. In the 2010 report for the Association of 
College and Research Libraries, Megan Oakleaf notes that the value 
of an academic library is connected to service rather than products 
and experience over collection, but also service delivery supported 
by librarian expertise (Oakleaf 2010, 23). In other words, for alumni, 
an improved service to suit their educational and/or vocational needs 
from their school library could be beneficial.

Key themes emerged and remerged throughout the literature 
search: the need for a healthy and robust reciprocal relationship 
between alumni and their school, the perceived status of alumni 
as purposeful borrowers, and the measurement of alumni expecta-
tions. This proposal from the Graham Library, if successful, would 
be a direct response to these themes. The project here is to engage 
academically and vocationally trained alumni in their current occu-



Listen and Learn sessions  243

pations as ministers, pastors, and resident theologians in geographi-
cal areas that cannot be served easily by an academic library; while 
a public library is beneficial, it too has limitations.

Two articles appeared multiple times in the search: Tom Sanville’s 
perspective piece “Reflections on Alumni and Libraries: Libraries Are 
Willing If There Is a Way” (Sanville 2012) and Chris Flegg’s perspec-
tive piece “Alumni, Libraries and Universities: Whereto the Relation-
ship” (Flegg 2012). Both articles directly confront the relationship 
between alumni and their university. Sanville is briefer in discussion 
than Flegg, but both authors present the challenges facing any sort 
of alumni-service expansion: if the university is keen to maintain 
relationships with its graduates, it must engage them in a reciprocal 
relationship. It is not enough for alumni to continue to donate and 
invest in the university: the university will be expected to produce 
something in return (Sanville 2012, 63; Flegg 2012, 61). To that end, 
alumni need to see that what they invest in their former school is 
being returned to them adequately (Weerts and Ronca 2007, 23-24).

Flegg is blunt in presenting how a university will monitor its 
alumni and find various ways to keep them engaged and supportive 
of the school; Flegg asks:

[W]ith much at stake, how do these universities hold up their side of the 
ledger in terms of providing mutually beneficial relationships? Put more 
crudely, what, apart from prestige and the opportunity to network with 
fellow alums, can graduates expect to get back for their support and en-
gagement? (Flegg 2012, 60)

If university administrators look to the libraries to answer that 
question, then, as some literature notes, the library needs to engage 
the alumni; however, it cannot do that without the university. The 
alumni development offices enable points of contact, and the library 
will need their resources to engage. The library cannot remain in-
visible to the university, and its role in the lives of the current stu-
dents cannot be readily dismissed: it should be seen and viewed in 
partnership (Weiner 2009, 4). For this to work, as Deanna Marcum 
and Roger C. Schonfeld report in their book Along Came Google, the 
university administration must see the library as a place beneficial 
for “greater investment in a variety of schemes for sharing resources 
that would offer many options for faculty and students and some-
times the general public to gain access to institutions’ collections” 
(Marcum and Schonfeld 2021, 24).



244  atLa 2022 ProCeedinGs

If alumni are “often grouped together with visitors, friends, or 
other categories of user that are considered part of an external com-
munity rather than being part of the university itself” (Stachokas 
2016, 14), the relationship between the library and the alumni is 
presumed to be secondary or of less importance. George Stachokas 
states that some libraries were addressing “alumni needs as though 
alumni continue to be a part of the broader university and library 
community rather than lump alumni together with visitors or other 
outsiders” (Stachokas 2016, 15). This is applicable to TWYCE, as the 
Graham Library wishes to retain connection with the vocational 
alumni to assist them with their various research needs.

A major complication here, as noted by Stachokas and others 
(Flegg 2012; Sanville 2012; Smith, Street, and Wales 2007; Weerts and 
Ronca 2007), is legal in nature, and one that TWYCE will be confront-
ing frequently: while the academic library may see alumni as being 
a part of the broader university community, various publishers do 
not. Stachokas writes:

[They] consider alumni to be part of a separate market sector with its own 
business models and pricing. Some vendors assume alumni will be served 
by public libraries for their personal information needs while information 
needs related to their employment or other commercial activities will natu-
rally fall outside of the purview of an academic information services pro-
vider such as their previous academic library (Stachokas 2016, 16).

This confrontation may prove to be problematic and costly; how-
ever, if it leads to conversations involving the university library and 
vendors regarding the potential for vocational alumni to receive ac-
cess without significant additional costs, there can be an improve-
ment in quality of service throughout the university. It may lead to 
vocational alumni being granted a particular status to differentiate 
them from other alumni, which is what one academic library in the 
United Kingdom did for alumni of an MBA program (Stachokas 2016, 
17; Smith, Street, and Wales 2007, 162-76). While TWYCE is designed 
for those alumni trained for ecclesial positions, they would not be 
the only vocational alumni produced by the university. Those from 
other vocational programs (education, medicine, law, etc.) could 
benefit from this change of status.

Status is one thing, but another recurring theme is determining 
how the alumni would use the resources: are the resources for busi-
ness or educational purposes (Smith, Street, and Wales 2007, 163)? 
Most of the e-resources provided by a university are licensed for 



Listen and Learn sessions  245

educational purposes, and identifier authentication is one form of 
checking. In the case of TWYCE, this becomes further complicated 
by asking who is receiving the educational value from the resource: 
the ordained alumni using it for teaching, or the parishioner who 
may never visit the university that provided the resource? Would 
TWYCE count as a business use or an educational use? The literature 
is not clear, but the Graham Library would have to make a definitive 
statement on the matter.

Alumni expectations are also mixed (Smith, Street, and Wales 
2007, 166; Weerts and Ronca 2007, 31-32). Is it reasonable for alum-
ni to expect the same access they had when they were students, or 
access to e-resources they never had prior? Who or what should 
determine access: the needs of the alumni, or the university in dia-
logue with the library vendors? If there is a cost to the alumni, what 
can the university library guarantee will be available for that cost? 
Is the university establishing the future alumni relationship early 
with existing students (McGill, Rundle-Thiele, and Lye 2009, 271), or 
are the current students merely accepting that they will not have a 
relationship with their school post-graduation?

A surprising result in the alumni-university relationship came 
in the number of results pertaining to the university archivist and 
inclusion of other university staff, particularly in the alumni office 
(Smith, Street, and Wales 2007, 165; Weerts and Ronca 2007, 31-32). 
It is most likely through the archivist that an academic library (if 
they are affiliated with said archivist directly) would encounter the 
most alumni interaction. Eddie Woodward states that this connection 
“provides alumni with the opportunity to reconnect and give back 
to the school where they earned their degrees…. [It] also dovetails 
nicely with the trend in modern university archives to collect mate-
rial from former students to help document the student experience” 
(Woodword 2015, 138). Woodward notes that this gives the alumni a 
concrete sense of investment and ownership, which leads to future 
donations in artifacts and financial support (Woodword 2015, 139). 
While this is good for the archival aspect of university life, the sense 
from Woodward’s article is that this pertains most to alumni at the 
end of their careers or in retirement. The Graham Library’s proposed 
project is for vocational life immediately following graduation, to 
maintain an active research presence in the alumni’s working lives 
rather than waiting until the end.



246  atLa 2022 ProCeedinGs

ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN

An environmental scan of existing alumni services from other 
theological libraries was initially conducted in 2019. Four An-
glican academic libraries from across Canada plus one Roman 
Catholic library3 were emailed questions about what services they 
provided for alumni or students who live at a distance from the 
school. When the scan was again conducted in 2021—this time, 
reading the libraries’ websites—what was learned in 2019 had re-
mained the same. Despite changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 
students who lived at a distance from their home library were at 
a significant disadvantage compared to those living locally, and 
alumni were at a greater disadvantage than either group of stu-
dents. Some libraries were willing to mail resources or to email 
e-resources to current students on a case-by-case basis. Others 
would direct the inquirer to their local university library or to 
make an interlibrary loan at their public library, and there might 
be a cost to the borrower.

The University of Toronto, for instance, charges $30 per inter-
library loan per external borrower request (University of Toronto 
Libraries 2022). The issue is further complicated by students living 
abroad, as international shipping raises the possibility of items be-
coming lost: the student would then be responsible for replacing a 
book. Initially, in 2019, the Graham Library’s proposal was met with 
some interest; one library expressed desire for a centralized request-
ing service amongst the academic Anglican libraries for alumni but 
shared no further thoughts. The table below provides a breakdown 
in the services provided by the schools.

3 The Atlantic School of Theology (Halifax, NS), Huron University College (Lon-
don, ON), Saskatoon Theological Union (Saskatoon, SK), and the Vancouver 
School of Theology (Vancouver, BC); the John M. Kelly Library at University of 
St. Michael’s College (Toronto, ON) was included due to the very close prox-
imity to the Graham Library in structure and service provision. The Graham 
InfoExpress service is modelled heavily on the same service as provided at the 
Kelly Library. Each of these schools has its own resident library.



Listen and Learn sessions  247

 GRAHAM 
LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY 
OF ST. 
MICHAEL’S 
COLLEGE

ATLANTIC 
SCHOOL OF 
THEOLOGY 
(AST)

HURON 
UNIVERSITY 
COLLEGE

SASKATOON 
THEOLOGICAL 
UNION (STU)

VANCOUVER 
SCHOOL OF 
THEOLOGY 
(VST)

DISTANCE 
EDUCATION 
STUDENTS

Yes Yes (their 
own)

Yes No4 Yes Yes

MAIL BOOKS5 Canada 
Post

Canada Post, 
courier

Canada Post, 
courier

No Canada Post, 
courier

Limited

SCAN 
DOCUMENTS

Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes

REQUIREMENTS:

Library card Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes

University 
identifier6

Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes

Proof of 
registration

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

BASIC DEGREE7 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

ADVANCED 
DEGREE8

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

PROVIDES 
INTERLIBRARY 
LOAN

No No No No No No

TABLE 1. Services provided to alumni and distance students.

In the broader literature review, numerous libraries have tried 
to engage and serve alumni with mixed results; and at this time the 
main frustration is the lack of access to online resources. While this 
is based on a university policy in compliance with copyright law and 
other unavoidable legal matters, it is still a source of frustration and 
aggravation for alumni wishing to use any library service previously 
offered to them pre-graduation. The service project as designed at 
the Graham Library is not fully represented by the literature. It is to 
the design and the project that this paper now turns.

4  Huron has no online courses available for theology students but has older 
adult students whom it tries to accommodate based on needs.

5  Canada Post’s Library Shipping Tool, Canada Post regular service, courier; STU 
sends prepaid postage envelopes with their books, St. Mike’s uses couriers for in-
ternational shipping (three books maximum), VST ships on a case-by-case basis.

6  University identifier—e.g., at the University of Toronto, a UTORid—is required 
by all current students, faculty, and staff for access to affiliated university li-
brary databases; AST provides a login for OpenAthens.

7  Basic Degree—an introductory degree in theological studies (MDiv, MTS, etc.).
8  Advanced Degree—a secondary academic degree in theological studies (ThM, 

MA, PhD).



248  atLa 2022 ProCeedinGs

PROPOSED PILOT

The pilot project was initially constructed in 2019 as a topic of 
conversation between the Graham InfoExpress Coordinator and 
another librarian at the Graham Library. While the discussion 
mainly focused on the loss of an interlibrary loan service amongst 
the public library system in Ontario prior to the COVID-19 lock-
down, it opened the potential for reaching out to alumni to assist 
in their research needs. Encouraging the ordained alumni to in-
crease their use of the Graham Library seemed the logical deci-
sion to make, but the process of doing that would involve multiple 
steps and reviews.

To repeat: the existing alumni services provided by the Gra-
ham Library are, like those at other academic libraries, severely 
truncated compared to those offered to the current research body. 
There is an extramural library card that can only be used for cir-
culating physical items from the Graham Library’s collection. This 
card is offered freely to alumni, non-conjoint students, and An-
glican clergy. It allows for up to 25 items to circulate, with a loan 
period of two weeks. Also, for alumni of both Trinity Divinity and 
Wycliffe College, there is limited access to the AtlaSerials® data-
base, a very popular resource for theological studies. To receive 
the card or the AtlaSerials® access, an alum must inquire in per-
son and provide pieces of identification—in the case of ordained 
clergy who are not alumni, this includes proof of ordination such 
as their license. The card, though free, must be renewed every year. 
COVID-19 protocols prevent alumni from entering the library to 
peruse the stacks, so they are restricted to an online request form 
for a curbside pickup.

The proposal itself is simple: the Graham Library will extend its 
existing InfoExpress document-delivery service to the ordained 
alumni from Trinity Divinity and from Wycliffe College. The Univer-
sity of Toronto Library catalogue is accessible to the public, but there 
are options for contacting the Graham Library directly for assistance. 
Scans from e-resources will necessarily be bound by the licensing 
agreements established between the University of Toronto and the 
providing vendor; the more open the access, the more likely it is that 
scans will be provided. Like the other InfoExpress services, the pi-
lot will follow the University of Toronto’s established guidelines for 
copyright-law compliance.



Listen and Learn sessions  249

Methodology
Any sort of project of this nature requires preliminary work. It is 
not sufficient for the Graham Library to decide that it will provide a 
service; it needs to know the service is (a) needed, and (b) necessary. 
To accomplish this, the methodology of needs assessment will be 
employed. While it is important to the schools—Trinity College and 
Wycliffe College—that their alumni are engaged for the reasons re-
vealed in the literature review, it is also important that their alumni 
recognize this as a service primarily for them. Part of the pilot should 
result in the reciprocal investment relationship: the school and the 
alumni benefit from the library providing the service, while the li-
brary benefits from the school investing in the library. The alumni 
see a return on the investment of both time and money to the school 
from the library.

Before expanding an existing and viable service, the Graham Li-
brary needs to find the relevant information and understandings of 
what the alumni of Trinity Divinity and Wycliffe value in a library 
service that will specifically benefit them as a group. This will re-
sult in the Graham Library taking some sort of action, changing the 
service(s) it provides to alumni, and thus leading to an improvement 
in the overall patron-forward service it offers to the whole univer-
sity community. This is a needs-assessment methodology for estab-
lishing “priorities for program or system development” (Witkin and 
Altschuld 1995, 5). Will there be a benefit to the Graham Library? 
Theoretically, yes: an improvement in circulation stats, increased 
number of users, and potentially higher request traffic for resources 
that are not available in smaller centres.

In interpreting the results from the needs assessment, a second 
and complementary methodology will be employed: grounded the-
ory. This is to assist the Graham Library to better understand how 
it currently serves the ordained alumni and how it can improve its 
own stature as an academic Anglican library. The Graham Library 
presents an existing value statement, that it serves the students, 
faculty, and alumni of Trinity and Wycliffe College. It is unclear, 
however, how true that statement is. Grounded theory in this case 
would help define what alumni description best suits the Graham Li-
brary’s current service: the data collected proves the theory it creates 
(Echevarria-Doan and Tubbs 2005, 42). To declare that the library 
serves only alumni local to the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area 
(GTHA) does not accurately reflect the stance of the Graham Library 



250  atLa 2022 ProCeedinGs

as serving all the alumni from Trinity Divinity and Wycliffe College. 
This methodology would help reveal the areas where improvement 
is necessary across the services as provided by the library and give 
supportive evidence of the vitality the library provides to the college 
community and life at the University of Toronto. It will help shape 
how the programs for alumni are developed, determining where 
outreach is needed most.

Schedule
Initial planning (researching, literature review, environmental scan, 
survey): 2019-2022 Survey9:

• Construction: 2019, renewed in 2021
• Redevelopment: September 2021–January 2022
• Atla Annual Conference 2022 Proposal: January 2022, ac-

cepted March 2022
• Research Ethics Board: Protocol submitted April 11, Ap-

proval notice May 2  
• Launch: May 9, 2022
• Data Collection Conclusion: May 30, 2022
• Analysis: May–June 2022
• Presentation at Atla Annual Conference: June 17, 2022
• Pilot: September 2022 for one calendar year
• Pilot Conclusion: August 2023
• Pilot Evaluation: August-September 2023
• Official Service Expansion: September 2023

Survey and Results
The survey was created and housed on Survey Monkey. Because the 
survey’s results needed to be shareable for a presentation as well as 
a research paper, they were submitted as part of a research-project 
protocol to the University of Toronto’s Research Ethics Board for 
suggestions and approval. Since it presented very little risk to the 
University or the Graham Library, the protocol was approved on 
April 20, 2022.

9  See Appendix A for survey and numerical results.



Listen and Learn sessions  251

The survey was launched on May 9, 2022, with a deadline for 
completion of May 30, 2022.

Distribution was completed through the following channels:

• Alumni development offices of both Trinity College and 
Wycliffe College

• Graham Library’s newsletters
• Graham Library’s social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, and 

Instagram)
• Wycliffe Alumni Association Facebook page
• Trinity College social media sites

The acceptable number of results in the protocol was set at 100. 
This number was determined according to the number of active 
alumni extramural cards currently in circulation. The number of 
responses received by the deadline exceeded our expectations at 142.

The results10 show some interesting findings. While the presumed 
complaint regarding access to electronic resources was expected—
and yes, it was mentioned—it was not the most prominent comment. 
Most of the alumni who made comments were concerned about the 
lack of awareness regarding their continued use of the library. They 
were unaware of the extramural card, the AtlaSerials® option, or that 
they would be welcomed back into the library to use the resources.

The initial results (Week 1) showed that the average alumnus was a 
Trinity grad two to five years out, was an ordained member of the An-
glican Church of Canada, and had an extramural card. This graduate 
would be willing to use an expanded document-delivery service for a 
small service fee to give them continued access to biblical commentar-
ies and theological texts. They would expect staff support in navigating 
the Graham’s existing resources, better communication through the 
existing alumni associations, and no expiration of their privileges. They 
would also like to participate in the pilot project. The results from Week 
1 would indicate that while there certainly is service to the alumni of 
Trinity Divinity and Wycliffe College, it can be improved by expansion.

Week 2’s results showed little change: the average alum was still a 
Trinity graduate two to five years out, was a member of the Anglican 
Church of Canada, was active in ordained congregational ministry, and 
had an extramural card. The alum would be willing to use the docu-

10  See Appendices A and B for results.



252  atLa 2022 ProCeedinGs

ment-delivery service for a small fee but would also be willing to use it 
regardless of cost. They primarily wanted biblical commentaries and 
theological texts, and they wanted library staff support in navigating the 
existing resources. They were also very eager to participate in the pilot.

Week 3 and the final results did not change much from Week 2. 
The total number of respondents was 143—88 Trinity Divinity alumni 
and 55 Wycliffe alumni—with a 100% completion rate (no uncom-
pleted surveys). This is a satisfactory result for a survey of this nature. 
The final average alum was a Trinity Divinity grad two to five years 
out, was a member of the Anglican Church of Canada, was active in 
ordained ministry, and had an extramural card. The alum would 
equally be willing to pay for the service regardless of cost or for a 
small service fee if it meant they had access to biblical commentar-
ies, theological texts, and worship resources. The alum would also 
like staff support in navigating the Graham’s existing resources and 
no expiration of privilege. Of the 142 respondents, 116 wished to par-
ticipate in the pilot, so a discussion with the senior library staff at the 
Graham Library about how to proceed is needed.

Future Direction of the Pilot Project
The pilot and the service going forward will require a marketing 
plan for promotion. The focus and target audience of this expansion 
is the alumni of Trinity Divinity and of Wycliffe College; it should 
not diminish or distract from the other document-delivery services 
the Graham Library provides, but rather work in complementary 
tandem. Since the average alumnus is an ordained person, there is 
great potential for them to share and discuss the service with their 
colleagues, some of whom will not be alumni of either college. Be-
cause the extramural card given to alumni is the same as that given 
to Anglican clergy, this is not currently a distinction worth making. 
This is especially in reference to the Graham Library’s collection 
management policy of April 2011, when the then Anglican Church 
of Canada’s library was folded into the collection at the Graham: “It 
is the goal of the Library, in conjunction with the Archives of the An-
glican Church of Canada, to become the preeminent Canadian base 
for scholars of Anglicanism.” (John W. Graham Library 2011) As a re-
sult, withholding this expansion from Anglican clergy would not be a 
welcome step. That does not mean, however, that it will be marketed 
as such: it presently means that Trinity Divinity and Wycliffe College 



Listen and Learn sessions  253

alumni will be the target audience, and their colleagues from other 
seminaries will not be excluded should they approach.

The marketing plan for the pilot will work like that of the survey, 
only this time, alumni will be contacted directly by the library rather 
than through the alumni-development offices. The alumni who were 
in favour of participation will be contacted and provided with a full 
explanation of what the service can do for them. A document of FAQs 
will be created, and also issued as a print document. The alumni will 
be welcomed and encouraged to ask questions of the coordinator or 
the subject liaison librarian at any point during their request.

When the pilot is complete, feedback will be sought in the form 
of a survey. It too will be published, and it is hoped that the findings 
will be presented at another Atla conference in the future.

CONCLUSION

The problem with providing library services to alumni as document-
ed in the literature follows this same pattern: the library is aware 
that alumni are important; the library tries to determine what the 
alumni want and need; the alumni do not respond as the library 
desires; the library tries and fails again. No alumni service is going 
to work perfectly, and the documented attempts reveal more frus-
tration than success. A number of these involved developing a new 
library service, whereas the John W. Graham Library is taking the 
different route of expanding an existing service for alumni.

The survey conducted by the Graham Library was structured to 
collect specific data about alumni informational needs. Graham Li-
brary staff can see clearly where the service needs to expand as well 
as what the alumni expect from it. In turn, this survey can be used 
to justify budgetary changes at the college level for the Graham Li-
brary. If the returns are great enough, the colleges can see how the 
library can benefit from their own relationship with their alumni. 
Resulting from this, the Graham Library will be an active partner in 
that relationship rather than a passive observer.

The struggles other libraries have had in alumni services are not 
without merit for the Graham Library. It too has struggled to find 
and refine services to suit the needs of all its patrons. This is only 
one component, one aspect of service; it will need constant attention 
and refinement as the number of alumni grows and spreads. Excit-
ing times lie ahead.



254  atLa 2022 ProCeedinGs

APPENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTIONS AND PERCENTAGE RESULTS

1. Which college did you graduate from? (If you graduated 
from both, please select the most recent)

a. Trinity (Divinity) 61.97%
b. Wycliffe 38.73%

2. Are you a member of the Anglican Church of Canada?
a. Yes 81.69%
b. No; my denomination is in full communion (joint or 

shared ministry) with the Anglican Church of Canada 
3.52%

c. No 13.381%
d. Prefer not to answer 1.41%

3. When did you graduate?
a. Less than 2 years ago 14.08%
b. 2–5 years ago 43.66%
c. 6–10 years ago 14.79%
d. 10+ years ago 27.46%

4. Are you ordained, and are you serving a congregation?
a. Yes, and serving a congregation 62.68%
b. Yes, and not serving a congregation but engaged in 

other ordained or commissioned ministry (e.g., chap-
laincy) 14.79%

c. No, and serving a congregation as either an ordinand 
or lay leader 7.04%

d. No, and not currently serving a congregation but en-
gaged in other commissioned ministry (e.g., chap-
laincy) 4.23%

e. No, and not currently serving a congregation and not 
engaged in other ministry 11.27%

5. Are you aware the John W. Graham Library has an alumni 
card that allows you to borrow books from its collection?

a. Yes, and I have one 49.30%
b. Yes, and I don’t have one 15.49%
c. No 35.21%

6. If you answered “Yes, and I don’t have one” or “No,” please 
tell us why you don’t use the Graham alumni card (not in-
terested, forgot it existed, distance to and from the library, 
two-week loan period too short, no access to the University 
online resources, et cetera).



Listen and Learn sessions  255

7. The John W. Graham Library is considering expanding its 
existing service to alumni of Wycliffe College and Trinity 
Divinity. This would include the possibility of delivering 
documents or materials via Canada Post or email, and may 
include a small service fee. Would you be interested in par-
ticipating in a trial pilot project?

a. Yes, regardless of cost 35.92%
b. Yes, for a small service fee 36.62%
c. Yes, as long as it is free (aside from overdue fines) 

20.42%
d. No 7.04%

8. In order to better understand what materials and resources 
would be needed, please indicate below what you would 
borrow from the John W. Graham Library (select all appli-
cable materials):

a. Bible commentaries and theological texts 86.62%
b. Worship resources (prayer books, liturgies, hymnals, 

et cetera) 47.89%
c. Other 27.46%

9. If you answered “Other” in Question 9, please give a de-
scription of the materials and resources you would want to 
borrow from the John W. Graham Library.

10. If the John W. Graham Library were to expand its existing 
alumni service, what would make it attractive to you? (Se-
lect all that apply)

a. Staff support in navigating the Graham’s existing re-
sources 54.93%

b. Better communication through the existing alumni 
associations 46.48%

c. Little to no cost for usage 42.96%
d. No expiration of privilege 48.59%
e. Other 6.34%

11. If you answered “Other” in Question 10, please give a de-
scription of your ideal alumni service from the John W. Gra-
ham Library.

12. Any additional comments on expanding the alumni service 
are welcomed. Please provide feedback or suggestions.

13. Would you like to participate in the service expansion pilot 
project?

a. Yes 81.69%
b. No 18.31%



256  atLa 2022 ProCeedinGs

The remaining two questions were for submission of an email 
address for participation in the pilot and for the incentive draw for 
the gift cards.

APPENDIX B: SURVEY COMMENT RESULTS

The survey responses are presented verbatim.
The first question that required a comment was question six: If 

you answered “Yes, and I don’t have one” or “No,” please tell us why 
you don’t use the Graham alumni card. Of the 82 comments, it was 
fairly divided between the following:

• “I was not aware of it.”
• “I believe I would need longer loan for it to be worthwhile, 

as I live out of town.”
• “I have never received one.”
• “I wasn’t aware that I could apply for such as card.”
• “I’m not in Ontario and so I am not able to access the library 

physically.”
• “I have never heard of it.”
• “Distance from the library.”
• “I was not aware! I would LOVE to use it!”
• “I live outside Toronto and it is not feasible to come to To-

ronto to the library.”
• “My fault. I just was unaware. I would be delighted to have 

such a card and will take steps to acquire one.”
• “It wasn’t clear how to get an alumni card based on my pro-

grams.”

The second question that required a comment was question nine: 
If you answered “Other” in question 8, please give a description of the 
materials and resources you would want to borrow from the John W. 
Graham Library. Of the 48 comments, only six referred specifically 
to online resources.

• “Academic resources, e-books, and journal articles.”
• “Journal articles, e-books.”
• “It would be great to have access to electronic journals—

leadership, homiletics, field education, etc.”



Listen and Learn sessions  257

• “It would be great to have access to online material as well, 
and not just printed resources.”

• “It would depend on what else was made available, how 
one could discover what was available and how it could be 
accessed. As noted above, I don’t live anywhere near Toron-
to so access could be a major problem.”

• “Access to journal articles.”

The third question that required a comment was question 11: If 
you answered “Other” in Question 10, please give a description of your 
ideal alumni service from the John W. Graham Library. Of the 51 re-
sponses, five specifically mentioned online resource access.

• “Access to journal storage sites.”
• “Internet access; someone at the end of the telephone.”
• “Access to online resources.”
• “Being able to access materials at a distance—if that is in-

deed possible.”
• “Access to online resources, such as journals and periodi-

cals, and online books would be especially useful, esp. for 
alumni in areas far from Toronto.”

The final question that required a comment was Question 12: Any 
additional comments on expanding the alumni service are welcomed. 
Please provide feedback or suggestions. Of the 51 responses, four men-
tioned access to online resources, five mentioned service ideas, and 
nine mentioned their appreciation for the library’s consideration. 
Of these 18 comments, the following are most telling:

• “I feel strongly that education should be made accessible 
and I don’t agree with limiting access to people who would 
use the resources.”

• “This is being completed by a wife/caregiver of a Trinity 
College Divinity grad who has Alzheimer’s/ dementia, but 
while he was serving in the church, it would have been 
great for him to know about [it] and [it] would have been 
used.”

• “Creating awareness and making some donation that would 
help in expansion.”

• “Grand idea. Would be a great kickstart for those us of who 
are wallowing in self-pity and ennui.”



258  atLa 2022 ProCeedinGs

• “Digital (video) welcome to the services. Would love to put 
a face to those who would help find the information. A con-
tact person with Trinity’s theology (e.g.: someone who is 
safe for women and lgbtq+ people), and who will offer sug-
gestions from women, bipoc, and lgbtq+ authors and not 
just old dead white guys.”

• “I appreciate that you are even considering this idea, 
whether or not I am able to take advantage of it.”

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