Christian Librarianship

Much of the current library literature assumes that professional library service is necessarily neutral-detached from the librarian’s philosophical or religious views. By contrast, contributors to this collection assert that librarianship is best practiced as an outworking of spiritual conviction. Accordingly, they discuss principles for integrating Christian faith and librarianship within various contexts, and reflect on professional issues from biblical and theological perspectives. This text will prove beneficial to Christians working in all types of libraries, whether religious or secular.
This compilation of 16 essays is divided into two main parts, the first on theory and the second on practice. The first part includes chapters such as A Rationale for Integrating Christian Faith and Librarianship, The Master We Serve: The Call of the Christian Librarian to the Secular Workplace; and The Impact of the Christian Faith on Library Service. Chapters in the second part include Library Encounters Culture, A Christian Approach to Intellectual Freedom in Libraries and Keeping Sunday Special in the Contemporary Workplace Culture. Contributors include William Fraher Abernathy, Rod Badams, Donald G. Davis, Jr., John Allen Delivuk, Kenneth D. Gill, Graham Hedges, D. Elizabeth Irish, James R. Johnson, Roger W. Phillips, Gregory A. Smith, Stanford Terhune, John B. Trotti, John Mark Tucker and Geoff Warren.

Gregory A. Smith is associate dean of the library technologies and collection services at Liberty University’s Jerry Falwell Library.

Edited by Gregory A. Smith
Foreword by Donald G. Davis, Jr.
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 239
Bibliographic Info: bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2002
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1329-4
Imprint: McFarland

Foreword     1

Introduction     5

PART ONE: CHRISTIAN LIBRARIANSHIP IN THEORY     9

1 A Rationale for Integrating Christian Faith and Librarianship     11

2 The Cultural Mandate, the Pursuit of Knowledge, and the Christian Librarian    28

3 The Master We Serve: The Call of the Christian Librarian to the Secular Workplace    40

4 The Theological Library: In Touch with the Witnesses     48

5 The Impact of the Christian Faith on Library Service     55

6 A Philosophy of Christian Librarianship     69

PART TWO: CHRISTIAN LIBRARIANSHIP IN PRACTICE     85

7 Library Encounters Culture     87

8 Multiculturalism and Libraries: A Biblical Perspective     100

9 Beauty for Ashes: Christian Librarians Facing a Fragmented Profession     111

10 And Ne’er the Twain Shall Meet? Personal vs. Professional Ethics     120

11 Intellectual Freedom and Evangelical Faith     131

12 A Christian Approach to Intellectual Freedom in Libraries     139

13 Nothing New under the Sun? Public Libraries and Sunday Opening in the 19th Century   165

14 Keeping Sunday Special in the Contemporary Workplace Culture     172

15 The Role of the Library in the Character Formation of the Christian College Student   181

16 Partnership in Library Development: The Mission Focus of Christian Librarians   192

Afterword: The Future of Christian Librarianship     201

Selective Bibliography     205

About the Contributors     221

Index     223

“interesting insights”—Booklist; “recommend[ed]”—Libraries & Culture; “useful information…interesting, challenging…thought-provoking”—New Library World; “professional resource”—VOYA; “provocative essays…a worthy read…lucid footnotes…mature breakthrough book”—Public Library Quarterly; “excellent collection”—Librarian’s Christian Fellowship Newsletter; “an important and profound work…groundbreaking…stands as a seminal landmark for all future discussion on this topic…presents a helpful reconciliation between evangelical Christian faith and the challenges of intellectual freedom”—Christian Scholar’s Review; “valuable…provides much insight”—Journal of Religious & Theological Information; “unique and important…extensive bibliography”—Portal: Libraries and the Academy.