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Conversation Groups  167

Updates and Invitation to the LEEP 
Theological Librarianship Course 
for Alumni, Library Leaders, and 
Potential Students
Gillian Harrison Cain, Director of Member Programs, Atla
Carisse Mickey Berryhill, Professor of Library Studies, Abilene Christian Uni-
versity

ABSTRACT Since its beginning in 2005 as a joint project between Atla and 
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a course on Theological Li-
brarianship has enrolled more than 260 students and involved dozens of 
Atla members as volunteer guests. After a presentation of data about the 
course, members of the conversation group reported alumni achievements, 
met alumni from other cohorts, and discussed strategies for awareness and 
recruitment of students as new Atla members and leaders.

THE HISTORY AND METHOD OF ATLA’S THEOLOGICAL LIBRARIANSHIP 
COURSE

Carisse Berryhill reviewed key dates in the development of the course 
by Atla and its Professional Development Committee, its agreement 
with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and the 
online course environment.

• 1979: A new Ad Hoc committee on Professional Develop-
ment was formed.

• 2000: A new Professional Development Committee was 
formed, chaired by Roberta Schaafsma.

• 2000 ATLA Annual Conference: Executive Director Den-
nis Norlin announced that the upcoming Wabash Colloquy 
would explore possibility of “developing relationships with 
library schools,” or offering “our own course” from Chicago 
Headquarters’ electronic classroom. 



168  atLa 2023 proCeeDinGs

• 2004: Five-year agreement with UIUC announced at ATLA 
Annual Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

• 2004: Carisse Berryhill was recruited to teach in UIUC’s on-
line LEEP program (https://ischool.illinois.edu/degrees-pro-
grams/graduate/ms-library-and-information-science/mslis-
leep-online) and was given the syllabus developed by the 
Professional Development Committee, to be developed at 
her discretion.

• 2005: LIST 590 TL began in the Fall semester with 18 stu-
dents, offered as a Special Topics course.

• 2014: New Course number LIS 568 LE (its own number)
• 2018: New Course Number: IS 568 AO (its own number)
• 2020: New Course Number IS 582 TLS (Advanced Topics)

Atla’s five-year agreement with UIUC stipulated that Atla would 
develop the syllabus, select an instructor, publicize the course to its 
membership, and encourage enrollment. UIUC would employ the in-
structor, set up the course, enroll students, and administer the course 
as part of its iSchool’s offerings, including technological support.

IS 582 TLO Course Description: “Provides an overview of the 
contexts, materials services, and issues characterizing theological 
librarianship. Course activities include readings, online discussion, 
writing assignments, exams, and a weekly two-hour live session. 
Students interact with a number of librarians currently working in 
the field. Students enrolled for 4 hours complete an additional term 
project. Offered for 2 or 4 hours of credit.”

UIUC’s LEEP Technological Environment: The class meets on-
line in a synchronous two-hour session each week. Students submit 
asynchronous assignments in UIUC’s course management system. 
Initially the course used a web-based platform written by the library 
school using student live chat, real-time instructor lecture by dial-
up telephone, and asynchronous assignments. The course moved to 
Moodle with livestream on Blackboard Elluminate. The course now 
uses Canvas with captioned livestream on Zoom.

WHO ARE THE STUDENTS?

Carisse Berryhill presented data about the students, enrollment, and 
Atla member involvement.

https://ischool.illinois.edu/degrees-programs/graduate/ms-library-and-information-science/mslis-leep-online
https://ischool.illinois.edu/degrees-programs/graduate/ms-library-and-information-science/mslis-leep-online
https://ischool.illinois.edu/degrees-programs/graduate/ms-library-and-information-science/mslis-leep-online


Conversation Groups  169

• Staff and librarians at Atla institutions. Often these stu-
dents have graduate degrees in theological disciplines, and 
some have library degrees as well.

• Degree-seeking students at Illinois. Some of these stu-
dents have undergraduate degrees in religious studies or 
have studied at a religiously-oriented college.

• Degree-seeking students in the WISE consortium of 
graduate library schools (https://wiseeducation.org). These 
students may also have backgrounds in religious studies or 
theology.

• Non-degree-seeking students who are interested in 
professional growth or specialization. Many of these 
students already have MLIS degrees or other advanced 
degrees. Some work at institutions that have absorbed theo-
logical programs or have added theological degrees.

• Religious affiliations: Some students are Christian, but stu-
dents affiliated with other religious traditions and people 
with no religious affiliation also enroll.

• Geography: Students come from the United States and 
Canada. Time zone disparities have been incompatible with 
real-time live sessions that characterize LEEP at UIUC.

COURSE ENROLLMENT DATA

• The course has been offered once every academic year 
since 2005 for 18 years.

• Total enrollment during that time has been 266 students for 
an average of 15 students a year.

• About five students per year enroll for four credit hours. 
The remainder choose two credit hours. (WISE students en-
roll in the number of credit hours assigned by their home 
institutions.)

• The highest enrollment was 25 in 2012, and the lowest was 
eight in both 2016 and 2023.

• The course has never failed to make.

ATLA MEMBER INVOLVEMENT 

Since 2005, 68 different guests, including Atla staff, Atla members and 
board, and accrediting officers have agreed to visit the class and an-

https://wiseeducation.org


170  atLa 2023 proCeeDinGs

swer questions about their work and theological librarianship. The 
champion guest is William Badke, who has given a live interview for 
every course offering for 18 years. Guests have granted 172 live inter-
views, which is an average of nine per semester. (In a few cases, two 
people were guests together. These are counted as two interviews.)

IMPACT OF THE COURSE ON ATLA

Gillian Harrison Cain presented an analysis of data based on Atla 
membership records. 

Of the individuals who took the course between 2005 and 2023, 
112 were not in our membership database. Of the 154 that were in 
our membership database:

• 91 (34% of the total) have been an individual or student 
member of Atla for at least one year.
 ˏ 33 are current (FY23) individual members.
 ˏ 18 were members for one to two years around the time 

they took the class.
• 27 have never been an individual or student member or af-

filiated with an institutional member.
• 87 have had an affiliation with an institutional member.

 ˏ 58 have an active affiliation with a current (FY23) insti-
tutional member.

• 25 (10% of total) have served or are currently serving in a 
leadership position (board, committee, editorial board, etc.) 
in Atla.

ATLA SCHOLARSHIPS 

Carisse Berryhill reported that when the course began in 2005, Atla 
offered tuition equalization grants to student members of Atla who 
were in good standing before enrollment. In the first five years of 
the course, enrollment never fell below 15 students. When the Diver-
sity Committee was first formed in 2008, it offered five scholarships 
to the course for student members from underrepresented popu-
lations.  When the Diversity Committee was re-designed in 2015, it 
offered one or two larger scholarships to minority students, but the 
scholarship was not linked to the UIUC Theological Librarianship 
course. The current DEI scholarship is $4000. A recipient may use it 



Conversation Groups  171

to enroll in “a Theological Librarianship course,” or in a course of 
study at any ALA-accredited library program. The award includes 
an Atla Annual conference attendance grant and a poster session 
requirement, and a subsequent Atla blog post by the recipient. The 
most recent DEI scholarship recipient to use their award for the UIUC 
course was Marian Ekweogwu in 2020.

HOW ATLA MEMBERS CAN BE INVOLVED 

• Publicize the course at our Atla institutions, to our students 
and staff, and at meetings of regional associations.

• Encourage Atla staff to consider offering course grants for 
staff at Alta institutions and for student members.

• Encourage outreach about the course when Atla exhibits at 
conferences such as AAR/SBL and ALA.

• Volunteer to be a guest in area of expertise.

DISCUSSION

Several former students attended in person or virtually, as well as 
other people interested in the course. Attendees introduced them-
selves and stated their institutional affiliations. Anthony Elia (Per-
kins Library Director, Southern Methodist University), an alum of 
the first class (2005), was present. 




