From the President

The Ends Make the Mission

by Stephen Sweeney, President 2020-2021

Atla Board President Stephen Sweeney discusses Mission, Organizational Ends, and how to govern an Association on other's behalf in this month's column.

From the President

New Year, Renewed Commitments

by Stephen Sweeney, President 2020-2021

New years bring new resolutions. In the place of resolutions, I like to think of renewed commitments. What are yours? Read about the Board's Commitments this year in this month's President's column.

From the President

Shared Governance: An Opportunity for Inclusive Conversation

by Stephen Sweeney, President 2020-2021

New Atla Board President shares his thoughts on the governance style of Atla.

From the President

‘May I Grow in Understanding’

by Jennifer Bartholomew

First I’d like to say thank you. This year I’ve had the opportunity to correspond and talk with many of you. I am inspired by your knowledge, your interests, and your commitment to the work we share.

From the President

Libraries Serve Humanity

by Jennifer Bartholomew

From the President: Influences from an updated interpretation of Ranganathan’s laws from Michael Gorman, visiting conferences, and the calling of theological librarianship.

From the President

Duties as Assigned

by Jennifer Bartholomew

Since moving south (from the Twin Cities to Milwaukee) a couple of years ago I’ve found our winters to be pretty mild. Not this year—January was dramatically cold and snowy. My seminary was closed for two days during the last week of the month. I was pretty happy to stay home and enjoyed the time off. There’s something very beautiful about the quiet that comes with a big snowfall. No internet service at our house meant that I had time to curl up with the cat, read, and do puzzles. No cabin fever here.

Association News, From the President

2019 New Year’s Greetings from the Board

by Jennifer Bartholomew

The ATLA Board members are dedicated leaders and professionals—archivists, bibliographers, collection managers, directors, and theology librarians in access, acquisitions, cataloging, information literacy, reference, research, and technical services. Collectively we cover a lot of ground. We are also athletes, avid readers (no surprises there), dedicated volunteers, linguists, musicians, photographers, and sports fans. I am constantly learning as I listen to and work with the Board. Best wishes for 2019 from all of us!

Association News, From the President

Reflections on the Year

by Jennifer Bartholomew

As the year draws to a close, I have been looking back on experiences and opportunities. I’ve appreciated the chance to travel—Indianapolis in June, a trip to Scotland in August with my mother, several trips to Chicago on Board business, and Toronto in November. This fall, as a volunteer at the Parliament of the World’s Religions, I connected with many kindred spirits. I spoke with people from around the globe who are working in many ways to broaden understanding and bring us closer together. I hope that we will continue to build on the theme of this Parliament, “The Promise of Inclusion, the Power of Love: Pursuing Global Understanding, Reconciliation, and Change.” This experience was especially meaningful as it underlies my work as a theological librarian. Inclusion, global understanding, love, and reconciliation are all themes in great religious and theological collections. This is the WHY that brings me to work in the morning and gives me focus through the myriad tasks of each day.

Association News, From the President

November: Strategic Alignment

by Jennifer Bartholomew

Each year ATLA committee chairs, interest group, and task force leaders gather to talk with staff liaisons about their goals and plans. Over the past few years we have passed new Bylaws and the Board has developed a new Core Purpose, Core Values, Mission Statement, Organizational Ends, and Strategic Goals. In light of this work, the Board asked these leaders to spend an extra day taking a closer look at all that is new and thinking about how this work will impact ATLA. Our facilitator, Paul Meyer from Tecker International, talked about the work of associations (“a group of people who voluntarily come together to solve common problems, meet common needs and accomplish common goals”) and challenged us to think about how we will shape our future.

Association News, From the President