From the President

The Importance of Funding: Theological and Religious Studies Libraries

by Timothy D. Lincoln

One of the things that I have learned in academic life is that nothing is obvious. Board members, academic deans, and professors all are great at asking the question also asked by my four-year-old granddaughter: why? Why, then, is it important to fund theological and religious studies libraries? This question is…

Association News, From the President

Job Security for Everyone

by Timothy D. Lincoln

In the BBC television series Yes Minister (1980-1984), viewers peer into the inner workings of the British government. In one episode, Jim Hacker, the new minister of the Department of Administrative Affairs learns from a civil servant that there are two official replies to any inquiry sent to the minister:…

Association News, From the President

Superpowers

by Timothy D. Lincoln

Newly inaugurated American president Donald J. Trump has wasted no time in issuing a salvo of executive orders. He has, among other actions, ordered that two federal regulations be retired for each new one issued, re-instituted a ban on the use of foreign aid to international agencies that talk about…

Association News, From the President

New Year’s Resolutions and A Sense Of Urgency

by Timothy D. Lincoln

Thomas Keller’s restaurant, The French Laundry, in Yountville, California, has been widely hailed as one of the country’s best. The restaurant serves elegant nine-course meals in a building that is on the National Registry of Historic Places. The staff of The French Laundry meets an exacting standard of excellence. In…

Association News, From the President

ATLA Has Just Gotten Bolder

by Timothy D. Lincoln

It’s not boring to be a librarian in 2016. There are always new opportunities and challenges. In fact, one such challenge is the need to justify why your library (and perhaps your institution) should exist at all.  What difference would it make if your school or your library went out…

Association News, From the President

Do You Value Innovation? Then Value Diversity

by Timothy D. Lincoln

One of the core values of ATLA is “creativity, innovation, and transformation.”  Another core value is “hospitality, inclusion, and diversity.”  (ATLA is the kind of association where sometimes one word just won’t do.) On the surface, these two sets of values are not necessarily related to each other.  Innovation seems…

Association News, From the President