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 ATLA Institutional Membership

Eligibility
Benefits
Dues
Download application form in pdf

Questions? Contact a membership associate, by e-mail or at 888.665.ATLA.

Eligibility

Libraries of institutions that wish to support the mission and purposes of the Association shall be eligible to apply for institutional membership if they meet one of the following criteria:

  • Institutions holding accredited membership in the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada;
  • Institutions accredited regionally (see below) that are engaged in theological education or religious studies primarily beyond the undergraduate level;
  • Regionally accredited (see below) universities with graduate religious studies programs that also have a librarian or subject bibliographer in the area of religion;
  • Non-degree granting organizations maintaining collections primarily of theological, religious, or ecclesiastical research material.

Applications for institutional membership from institutions that do not fit into one of these four categories may be referred to the Board of Directors, which may approve membership status in cases where these criteria are judged by the Board not to be applicable. Institutions that are not eligible for institutional membership may want to consider affiliate membership.

Regional accreditation agencies referred to above are:
  • Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA)
  • New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (NEASC-CIHE)
  • North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, The Higher Learning Commission (NCA)
  • Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NCOCU)
  • Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS)
  • Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities (WASC-Sr.)
  • Equivalents in Canadian jurisdictions

Benefits

Institutional Members are entitled to attend meetings of the Association, to vote in association voting matters, to participate in association programs, and to receive those publications of the Association that are distributed to the membership. An Institutional Member may send one official delegate to meetings of the Association to represent its interests in the affairs of the Association and to cast its vote in association voting matters and may send other representatives as desired. An Institutional Member shall designate its official delegate in writing to the Association as needed. Other benefits, listed below, fall into the categories of professional collaboration and development, member publications, and discounts on products and services.

Professional Collaboration and Development

Job Postings
Free postings on the web
Reduced Registration
Discounted rates for ATLA professional development offerings, including the Annual Conference
Consultants Program
Practical guidance on library operations and planning from other experienced librarians
Consortial Opportunities
Collaboration with other theological libraries to receive consortial benefits such as OCLC's FirstSearch, the ATLA/Brill Consortium, the ATLA Serials Exchange, the ATLA/OCLC Group Catalog, and the Digital Barth Library from Alexander Street Press.
NACO and CONSER Funnel Projects
National programs coordinated by the Library of Congress
Link
To the institution's home page from the ATLA member directory

Member Publications

ATLA's membership year is September 1-August 31. If you join mid-year, your membership will be retroactive to September 1, and you will receive all publications for that membership year.

Summary of Proceedings
Full text or summaries of sessions of ATLA's Annual Conference
Newsletter
The primary source of information about ATLA activities and membership news (quarterly)
Theology Cataloging Bulletin
Member-published newsletter for catalogers

Discounts on Products and Services

ATLA Religion Database
The premier index in theology and religion
ATLAS
An online collection of fully digitized major religion and theology journals
Preservation Products and Services
Discounts on various preservation products and services; see the catalog for the current amounts

Dues

Institutional membership dues are based on the library operating expenditures as reported in the official financial statement of the institution for its preceding fiscal year, such as the data supplied to ATS or ATLA. If the religion and theology collection is part of a larger general collection, dues are based on the library operating expenditures specific to that religion and theology collection.

In response to many requests, we are including these guidelines as an aid for you to determine what your institution's dues should be.

Stand-alone theology libraries

Collection
(Acquisitions and Preservation)
100% of reported last year's expenditures
Salaries 100% of reported last year's expenditures
Overhead 100% of reported last year's expenditures

Equivalent to the total compensation plus total library materials field in the ATS surveys

Theology collections that are part of a larger collection, library, or system

Collection
(Acquisitions and Preservation)

The percentage of the entire collection development expenditures spent on the theology collection development.

for example: 15% of preservation and collection development budget spent on theology collection

Salaries

Percentage of time staff members spend servicing religion/theology students and/or doing collection development

for example:

Full-time religion bibliographer 100%
Half-time religion bibliographer 50%
Full-time reference librarian liaison to theology department 100%
Reference librarian to four departments including the theology department 25%

Circulation Department/Administrative salary costs are based on the percentage of the entire collection that constitutes the theology/religion collection.

Overhead

Overhead costs are based on the percentage of the entire collection that constitutes the theology/religion collection.

Once you have determined your annual expenditures, use the following table.

Annual Expenditures Dues
$0-$25,000 $100
$25,001-$50,000 $150
$50,001-$100,000 $200
$100,001-$200,000 $300
$200,001-$300,000 $400
$300,001-$400,000 $500
$400,001-$500,000 $600
$500,001-$600,000 $700
$600,001-$700,000 $800
$700,001-$800,000 $900
$800,001 and up $1000

Please feel free to contact Barbara Kemmis (888.665.2852), director of member services, if you have any questions about how to calculate dues.

Application

An application may be downloaded here for printing and then faxing or mailing to ATLA.

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American Theological Library Association
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Outside North America: 312.454.5100
Fax: 312.454.5505 • E-mail: atla@atla.com
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