












































Starting Off Well


Panel Presentations  125

Starting Off Well
Advice for New Theological Librarians
Liz Leahy, Professor of Theological Bibliography and Research, Azusa Pacific 
University
Carisse Berryhill, Special Assistant to the Dean for Strategic Initiatives, Brown 
Library, Abilene Christian University
Susan Ebertz, Director of the Reu Memorial Library and Assistant Professor of 
Bibliography and Academic Research, Wartburg Theological Seminary

ABSTRACT Three veteran theological librarians representing different 
types of library settings share from their experiences on ways to begin with 
your best foot forward. We discuss the importance of mentor librarians and 
libraries, involvement in Atla and other regional and national organizations, 
training opportunities to consider, collection development, the role of ac-
creditation, and more! The session was followed by an opportunity for Q&A.

OUR BACKGROUNDS

Liz Leahy (Azusa Pacific University)
In the years before I began in my present role, I started a special li-
brary in the areas of theology and law for a Christian ministry called 
Prison Fellowship. I served next as a speechwriter at the US Depart-
ment of Education for the Office of Library Programs, where I wrote 
speeches and legislative testimony related to all aspects of librarian-
ship. I then moved to the Library of Congress, where I served as a se-
nior research analyst and worked with new technologies in database 
management and developed and edited technical publications. I also 
traveled to most library and computing trade shows across the US, 
representing the Library of Congress at their booth.

I began my work at Azusa Pacific University nearly 30 years ago 
and of course, have seen many changes during my time here. I was 
hired to begin the theological library after the seminary had begun 
— with many notations from the Association of Theological Schools 
(ATS). Over these years, we moved from a single library to three 
libraries on the main campus and two regional campus theologi-



126  atla 2023 ProCeeDinGs

cal libraries, and my roles have varied over the years as well. The 
Stamps Theological Library serves the seminary and undergradu-
ate programs of religion and bible as well as courses campus-wide 
that integrate faith and learning. The seminary teaches in English, 
Spanish, and Korean, and our collections reflect this. We also have 
theological special collections and archives. 

One of the things I love about librarianship is the amount of vari-
ety we can have in our careers. I hope that this session encourages 
you. Whether you are currently serving in a theological library role 
— or hope to be in the near future, what you are doing now will likely 
be able to be used in this role.

Carisse Berryhill (Abilene Christian University)
I began my work at Abilene Christian University nearly 20 years ago 
and in these years have additionally served as the Associate Dean 
of Digital Initiatives, Special Collections and University Archives, as 
well as serving as Special Collections Librarian and Special Services 
Librarian, where I also served as the liaison to the English depart-
ment and to the Friends of the ACU Library. I have taught the Atla-
sponsored course on Theological Librarianship for the University of 
Illinois for 18 years. Prior to these appointments I served as the Asso-
ciate Librarian at the Harding Graduate School of Religion in Mem-
phis, and as Professor of English at Lubbock Christian University, 
Lubbock, Texas. My PhD is in English from Florida State University.

Susan Ebertz (Wartburg Theological Seminary)
I’m Susan Ebertz and the Director for the Library at Wartburg Theo-
logical Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, USA. I’ve been there for 26 years 
and will be retiring at the end of June. I was hired for a one-year 
temporary position. I did not have a library degree when I started 
but had an MDiv and was working on an MBA. Wartburg Seminary 
must have liked what I did because they then hired me as the Assis-
tant Director and then later, I became the Director for the Library. 
I earned my library degree after becoming the Director. I attended 
my first Atla conference in 1999. I was so lonely at the conference 
and didn’t come back the next year. 



Panel Presentations  127

 
GETTING YOUR BEARINGS IN A THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY:  
CARISSE BERRYHILL

My heuristic:
• Contexts — history and associations, doctrine/dogmas, etc.
• Materials — what makes up your library collection?
• Services — who are your patrons? What needs should you 

be supporting?

Issues to consider as you move into your position in a theological 
library:

• If you are new to a theological library and this is a new 
universe of discourse, look into auditing or enrolling in a 
course which will help to fill gaps you might have.

• What are the governance structures for your institution? 
Advisory structures? Denominational connections? Talk to 
colleagues both inside the library and in the departments 
affiliated with your library. 

• What reporting duties do you have — and to whom? (Inter-
nal— perhaps to a dean or provost and external, such as ac-
crediting agencies.) 

• What does advancement look like in your institution? Who 
sets goals and evaluates your work?

• What do scholarship, teaching, service and collegiality look 
like for you, and what expectations should you meet? 

• Who are the library’s user groups? 
• What policies are already in place?

MENTORS: SUSAN EBERTZ

At any point in our career, there will hopefully be new responsibili-
ties and challenges that come our way. We could try to do it on our 
own to figure out what to do. It would make more sense to seek out 
someone who knows more and can help you see any pitfalls or better 
ways of doing something and to support you in making it through the 
new responsibilities. Why waste your time and effort doing it alone 
when you could have a guide and encourager with you? 

Six months after I started working at Wartburg Seminary, we had 
our Association of Theological Schools accreditation visit. The then-



128  atla 2023 ProCeeDinGs

director had me meet with the ATS visitor. The director was also the 
director at a nearby library and delegated that task to me. The ATS 
visitor was the chair of the visit, Charles Willard. Many of you know 
him. During the visit we had several conversations, not only about 
the library but also about where I saw myself going. After the visit 
he graciously answered questions that I had. He became one of my 
mentors.

When I first became a library director, I often sought out the ad-
vice of a good friend at a nearby library. She was an excellent librar-
ian who I admired. Many of my decisions were based on what she 
did at her library. Our policies began to strangely resemble the poli-
cies at her library. My friend taught me the importance of making 
the library student-focused and not about the books. 

The flip side of having a mentor is to mentor someone. Mentoring 
should begin the first day on the job. Some places call it succession 
planning: helping someone to take over your job. And in the case of 
theological libraries, it may not be our job per se, but a similar job 
in another institution. We need more theological librarians and one 
way to do that is if we start mentoring someone. 

I remember someone who worked in the library while their 
spouse was a student. When the student received their first church 
position, the former library worker was able to find a library posi-
tion. Since that time the former library worker has worked in a li-
brary with each move that the alum made. There was also a student 
worker who discovered that their passion was libraries. They went 
on to library school and became an academic librarian. 

Sometimes the relationships are formal. For example, some li-
brary organizations offer mentoring programs, providing a mentor 
for anyone interested. I met someone who was in a mentoring rela-
tionship with a friend. The mentor suggested that the person contact 
me to answer questions that I could answer. You don’t need to be in 
a formal mentoring relationship to still provide help. 

Internships, whether paid or unpaid, should definitely be seen as 
a mentoring relationship. It is not just about teaching skills but also 
forming a librarian.

Informal mentoring happens when we seek help from others who 
we know to be good at something. It also happens when we have a 
posture of being willing to help others. When we are known as some-
one who knows something and who is also willing to share and help, 
we will be sought out as mentors.



Panel Presentations  129

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHER DEVELOPMENT OPPOR-
TUNITIES: CARISSE BERRYHILL

Start with library networks and cooperatives at a local, regional, 
and national level.  Look into associations of religious librarians: or-
ganizations such as Atla, Association of Christian Librarians (ACL), 
Catholic Library Association and the Association of Jewish Libraries 
can provide a wonderful network as well as to alert you to trends 
and publishing within your faith tradition. These groups may meet 
regionally or at annual conferences and increasingly offer virtual 
training or discussion groups during the year.

Consider attending conferences that focus on research in your 
discipline(s) such as the American Academy of Religion/Society of 
Biblical Literature (AAR/SBL), which host regional, national and 
international gatherings. If you are affiliated with a denomination, 
there may be gatherings related to research being conducted by 
scholars in your field.

Look into other types of opportunities which may be available to 
strengthen your skills. These might include grant writing, catalog-
ing, student services programming, or technology. Some of these 
programs might be offered online or through a network you may 
already be connected with but don’t forget to look into offerings by 
other academic or large public libraries or museums in your area. 

NETWORKING: SUSAN EBERTZ

From a purely selfish standpoint, networking can be seen as a way 
to meet people who can help you. There are basically two types of 
networking: within your institution and outside of your institution.

Within your institution, it is important to build relationships with 
everyone. We sometimes don’t think about staff at our institutions 
but only think of administration and faculty. Seeing all people by ac-
knowledging their gifts and their worth creates an environment that 
is conducive for lifting everyone up. I know that when I worked at 
another institution, I would periodically bring donuts to the main-
tenance crew. This really helped my relationships with them. They 
knew I cared about them and did not see them as a means to serving 
me. I think for those of us which a religious background, the under-
standing of seeing all as being made in the image of God is important. 



130  atla 2023 ProCeeDinGs

Networking with those in the administration and faculty are im-
portant in building those relationships which may more directly 
affect our work. There is another session in this year’s Atla Annual 
dealing with those relationships. You may want to avail yourself of 
that session. 

Networking outside of your institution is also helpful. In my com-
ments earlier, I talked about mentoring and seeking mentors. Build-
ing relationships within your profession not only helps you to know 
who can help you or be your mentor, but as you build those relation-
ships, they get to know you and your gifts and learn how you can 
help them. It’s a two-way street. In the opening plenary for the Atla 
Annual this year, we heard about community organizing. This can 
best happen when we have built relationships with others. In a re-
cent post in the Directors list-serv for Atla, there was a request for 
advice. The response was tremendous from others who have had a 
similar experience. These professional relationships become very 
important.

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT: LIZ LEAHY

All libraries generally begin somewhere. You might be starting in a 
well-developed library. or you might be beginning from scratch — 
but the same methods can apply in either circumstance. 

1. Get to know the organization you are working in. Does it 
have a particular religious tradition/denominational per-
spective? If this is not your tradition, find out who you can 
talk to in order to give you more background.

2. Who are your users? Students, faculty, external users? 
3. What is the library’s main task? Is it to support curriculum? 

Support research — perhaps by faculty and other scholars? 
Serve as a denominational archive? 

4. How is your budget determined and what is your spending 
time period/fiscal year? Does your library use a jobber – say 
Baker & Taylor? Do you have ongoing commitments/stand-
ing orders with any publishers? 

All of these questions factor into how you set up your collection 
development priorities and these are often different in each library. 
And much of this becomes incorporated into the collection develop-
ment policy for your library. Check to see if your library has an ex-
isting policy and if so, how frequently it is updated. Does it include 



Panel Presentations  131

information such as collecting levels? Types of materials collected? 
How gift books are accepted (or not) and how weeding takes place? If 
your library does not have a policy – there are many good examples 
available online or check with other libraries in your network to help 
you to develop one that best fits your institution. My focus here is on 
collecting books but the same questions hold true for determining 
the best serial and database titles as well.

My campus has a strong focus on the curriculum followed by 
faculty research needs. So, I receive the syllabi for all classes each 
semester and review the assignments, the required and the recom-
mended titles. If a course is a research course, say on the history of 
Christianity, and has one or more research papers assigned, I think 
about the average class size and whether or not a class of students 
could each find enough materials to prepare a research paper — so 
I’m not only looking at what the faculty member has suggested, but 
also considering how students might go about fulfilling the course 
requirements in research and writing. 

I look at the book reviews and articles in the more popular jour-
nals that our faculty are reading. When there are book awards, such 
as the Christianity Today books of the year. I try to order all of them 
as they will have received attention broadly across our campus. I 
look at the journals that have  denominational ties to our seminary 
as well as resources such as New Testament Abstracts, to be aware 
of what is currently being published. I look at and mark up trade 
catalogs as well.

With database access, it seems fewer annotated bibliographies 
are published but when you can locate them, they can be an excel-
lent resource. Several that discuss the backgrounds and merits of 
various commentaries and dictionaries are listed below, but one I 
especially like is our former Atla colleague David Stewart’s The Lit-
erature of Theology: A Guide for Students and Pastors. If your library 
can access (or subscribe to) the Oxford Bibliographies Online, it is a 
helpful source for recommended titles on an array of topics in reli-
gion and philosophy. Resources such as WorldCAT can give informa-
tion related to newly cataloged works as well as how many libraries 
are acquiring the title. I do look at other theological libraries in my 
region to see if books that are on my larger wish list might have been 
purchased and available nearby ; one of the difficult aspects of collec-
tion development is that most of our libraries do not have the budget 
to purchase everything we would like and we have to make choices! 



132  atla 2023 ProCeeDinGs

A newer challenge for many of our libraries is the ratio of print to 
ebooks we purchase and how to determine the best use of our funds. 
You may have space challenges which have encouraged the purchase 
of more e-books – or perhaps students who study at a distance. The 
COVID-19 pandemic initiated a major change in our libraries as we 
needed to make more research materials available online during 
campus closures. 

ACCREDITATION: LIZ LEAHY

Most, if not all, of our libraries are connected with educational or-
ganizations that are accredited. It is important to get to know the 
standards for accreditation that will impact your school — and often 
there are more than one. For instance, my university has an overall 
accreditation through our regional accreditor (WSCUC) and individ-
ual schools and departments may have discipline-focused accredita-
tion as well, such as ATS. 

Look at the accreditation materials to see if there are standards 
for libraries, but also look at standards related to student learning, 
research support, distance education — as libraries often fit into 
more than one section of these reports. 

The standards can give you something to aim for and help you 
to be aware of reports and documents you should have in place — 
such as a collection development policy or survey/assessment data.

If the agencies that accredit your school don’t say much about li-
braries (and our regional one says virtually nothing), consider also 
looking at the standards for other disciplines if you are in a univer-
sity setting. For instance, the standards for social work and for art, 
are both quite specific with library expectations and are helpful in 
thinking about the types of questions an accrediting team might ask. 

I believe that most accrediting standards are easily located online 
but if you have some problems with access, most schools have an indi-
vidual or office tasked as the “Accreditation Liaison Office” and these 
individuals can help you to locate what you are seeking. I once told a 
previous provost that I liked accreditation visits (which is something 
most administrators dread) and he remarked that it was always because 
the libraries fared well in the reviews on two levels: we knew what was 
expected of us and also generally received funding we lacked the rest of 
the time to fix problems that were obvious to us and our accreditors. Get 
to know the documents that help to hold your campus accountable — 
they can be very helpful as you set goals and priorities for your library!



Panel Presentations  133

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

ATS Commission on Accrediting. 2020 Standards of Accreditation. 
Pittsburgh: Association of Theological Schools in the United 
States and Canada. https://www.ats.edu/files/galleries/
standards-of-accreditation.pdf

Bauer, David R. 2003. An Annotated Guide to Biblical Resources for 
Ministry. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 

Berryhill, Carisse, ed. 2022. Collection Development in 
Theological Libraries. The Theological Librarian’s Handbook 
series. Chicago: Atla Open Press. https://doi.org/10.31046/
atlaopenpress.89

Danker, Frederick W. 1993. Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study. 
Revised and Expanded. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Stewart, David R. 2003. The Literature of Theology: A Guide for 
Students and Pastors. Revised and Updated. Louisville: 
Westminster/John Knox.

https://www.ats.edu/files/galleries/standards-of-accreditation.pdf
https://www.ats.edu/files/galleries/standards-of-accreditation.pdf
https://doi.org/10.31046/atlaopenpress.89
https://doi.org/10.31046/atlaopenpress.89

