Since I began working in theological libraries in 1993, I have repeatedly grappled with the work and purpose of the theological library. I often wondered if I am making a difference in how students are being prepared for ministry. Now as a library director, even though students tell me they are satisfied with the library, is there more the library can do?
This paper is based on my D.Min. thesis completed in May 2023 in which I grappled with these ideas. I focused my research on the Bechtold Library at Catholic Theological Union where I am the library director, to explore the extent to which aspects of decoloniality affect the practices of a theological library and its diverse student body, and student research needs.
Keeping, producing, and providing knowledge were the three essential roles I devised for librarians, but each comes with cultural assumptions about what should be kept in a library, the types of knowledge the library should help produce and services the library should provide. My research included a survey of CTU students on their use of the library as well as a survey of Atla library directors to get a different perspective on theological libraries. I will include my research in the presentation.
Finally, as a member of Western society, I am keenly aware the CTU library carries a legacy of colonial thought which has shaped the existing library collection and influences the knowledge produced by library users. I used the work of Kwok Pui-Lan and others to look through decolonial and postcolonial lenses to reveal injustices in the way the CTU library keeps, produces, and provides knowledge to inform possible interventions a library could take within these three essential roles.
