Institutional Membership

Institutional membership is open to libraries of institutions of higher education that support programs in theology and religious studies. The institution the library serves must be accredited by an authority recognized by the U.S. Department of Higher Education, Council of Higher Education Accreditation, or the equivalent thereof in other jurisdictions.

Libraries at non-degree granting organizations that maintain one or more significant collections of primarily theological, religious, or ecclesiastical research material may also become Institutional members.

Institutions that are not eligible for Institutional membership may want to consider an Affiliate membership.

Benefits

Read about all of the benefits this membership type offers.

Membership Year

Atla’s membership year is September 1–August 31. In order to take advantage of some benefits, you may need to be a member prior to applying for those programs. If you join mid-year, your membership will be retroactive to September 1 and you will receive all publications for that membership year.

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.

Below are some suggested guidelines to aid you in determining what your institution’s dues should be.

Stand-alone Religion and Theology Libraries

Total of the following three items:

• 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

OR

• Total compensation plus total library materials field in ATS survey

Religion and Theology Collections that are Part of a Larger Collection, Library, or System

Total of the following three items:

• Collection (Acquisitions and Preservation) — The percentage of the entire collection development expenditures spent on the religious studies and theology collection. If you do not have a budget specifically for the religion and theology collection, the estimate by determining the size of your religion and theology collection and use the percentage that represents the entire collection to calculate proportionally how much of your collections budget is spent on religion and theology.
• Salaries — Percentage of time staff members spend supporting 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 — 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.

“Pay What You Want” Discount Rates

At their June meeting, the Atla Board of Directors passed a resolution to continue to offer members financial relief through optional dues reductions for the 2022-2023 membership year. Members may opt to pay their full membership dues amount (see below) or use a discount code to indicate their preferred “pay what you want” dues level.

Discount rates: 

• Institutional – 25% off

With this “pay what you want” dues program, members can decide how much they can afford to pay for the FY2023 Atla membership year without having to declare or disclose their specific situation. Experience the full value of the Atla community within your budget using your “Pay What You Want” Discount Code: Take25. Learn more.

Application

To apply for Institutional Membership, please use the following steps.

1. Log into the My Atla web portal. If you haven’t logged in before, you will need to create an account.
2. Select the My Affiliations tab on the left.
3. Create a new organization and enter your institution’s information. Save.
4. Select the Personal Snapshot tab of the left and scroll down to the bottom of the page. You should see an orange Apply button under the organization membership section.
5. Complete the application form.

Once the form is completed, Atla staff will be notified and we will review your information.

E-mail questions to the Member Programs Department.