Date: August 9, 2021
I like to think I care most about the essentials: those key theologians and figures from Church history that are most important to know. So, when we realized the Welcome Center Library would only contain 10% of the library’s total print collections, I thought this might be a welcome reprieve from an ordinarily overwhelming collection. It would nudge our patrons to engage solely with those texts that mattered most. To read deeply, rather than widely.
What I learned during our year in exile, however, challenged this notion. Dare I say we need access to 200,000+ books in the collection. 20,000 simply won’t do. While I still believe primary sources are most worthy of our attention, it’s those other 180,000 books that truly shed light on the essentials, alongside our rich collection of e-resources. As a seminary, we are in the business of expanding minds and encouraging students to encounter the broad heritage of our Church. Returning to a full Bishop Payne Library, shelves brimming (and in some cases, overflowing!) with books, is the true welcome reprieve I (wrongly) had imagined would come last year.
The newly renovated library will celebrate this fact: we are an institution with vast theological resources and we are eager for students, faculty, alumni, and scholars to once again make use of each book in the collection. “A reader for every book,” these materials are curated for each member of the VTS community.
Vincent Williams, M.A.R., M.Phil.
User Services Manager