HomeWhat is a theological librarian?

Celebrate our 2022 Theological Libraries Month (TLM) theme, “What is a Theological Librarian?” by exploring some of the many avenues and career paths that theological librarianship can generate.

Attend Upcoming Events

Harvesting, Hosting, and Highlighting Digital Collections in Religion and Theology

Atla staff Christine Fruin and Christy Karpinski demonstrate how participants can have their digital collections harvested or hosted by the Atla Digital Library.

PowerPoint Karaoke – What is a Theological Librarian?

Join us on October 14, 2022, at 11am CT for an Atla social hour to play PowerPoint Karaoke and celebrate TLM.

It was encouraging to see and hear a lot of those conversations happening within theological libraries, particularly around digital research and scholarship and exploring other modes of literacy.

Christopher Lopez, Student Success Librarian at Borough of Manhattan Community College

Read our open access series, Theological Librarian’s Handbook!


Vol 1: Introduction to Theological Libraries
Administration in Theological Libraries Cover

Vol 2: Administration in Theological Libraries
Theological Librarian's Handbook Volume Three

Vol 3: Collection Development in Theological Libraries

We're looking for people either from Hong Kong or Taiwan or even China, to work together and to push the development of Chinese ebooks on theological studies.

Cindy Lu, Former Director of Library and Information Services of Singapore Bible College in Singapore

Meet Some Theological Librarians

Member Spotlight – Álvaro Pérez

In this month's Member Spotlight, meet Álvaro Pérez, former Library Director at the Universidad Biblica Latinoamericana in Sabanilla, Costa Rica.

Member Spotlight: Christopher Lopez

In this month's Member Spotlight, meet Christopher Lopez, Public Services Assistant at University of California, Los Angeles.

Member Spotlight: Kellie Barbato

In this month's Member Spotlight, meet Kellie Barbato, Director of the Lineberger Memorial Library at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina.

Member Spotlight: Melissa Chim

In this month's Member Spotlight, meet Melissa Chim, Reference Librarian at General Theological Seminary in New York, New York.

Member Spotlight: Kerrie Burn

In this month's Member Spotlight, meet Kerrie Burn, Library Manager at the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia.

Member Spotlight: Cindy Lu

In this month's Member Spotlight, meet Cindy Lu, former Director of Library and Information Services at Singapore Bible College in Singapore.

Member Spotlight: Daniel Smith

Meet Daniel Smith, Research, Instruction, & Digital Services Librarian at the Styberg Library at Garrett-Evangelical Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

Resources for Theological Librarians

educational programs

The reality that we Latin Americans have to deal with is that we don’t have as many resources as some others do. I’m not complaining. There are different realities in theological librarianship.

Álvaro Pérez, Former Library Director at the Universidad Biblica Latinoamericana in Sabanilla, Costa Rica

Watch Past Webinars

What is a Theological Librarian?

Sponsored by the Professional Development Committee, a panel of Atla members discuss their various paths to theological librarianship.

Impact and Importance of Open Access Publishing for Theological Libraries

An author and two editors of recent Books@Atla Open Press volumes share their thoughts on why open access publishing is important for theological libraries.

Colloquial Conversation: Quirky Cataloging and Rare Books Well Done

Hear all about rare book cataloging in this meeting of the Technical Services Interest Group (TSIG)'s quarterly colloquial conversation.