Atla Annual 2025

Academic librarians usually do not seek out struggling students. Instead, struggling students seek us out. However, fewer students are coming into the library seeking help. With some seminaries dealing with declining enrollments, seminary librarians should consider proactively responding to students who they know are at risk. If we can get to these students in time, we may be able to prevent their failing and dropping out, thus helping to stabilize enrollment.
The question is, “How do we reach out to at-risk students?” Some seminaries have systems for identifying borderline students when the grading system puts them in an “on-warning” status. The student’s advisor is then notified, and with the student's cooperation, an intervention process can begin, often with a student success coach.
Other seminaries, like mine, do not have an on-warning system. We have developed our own system, and it includes the librarian as a student success coach. The faculty directs academically challenged students to contact the librarian for assistance. While this includes traditional roles of helping with their research and writing, it often involves much more.
I will provide anecdotes about our successes and a few failures (while protecting the real identities of students). I will also provide a strategy for engaging the faculty and administration in expanding the librarian’s role into a student success coach.

Learning Outcome

First, those attending this presentation should realize that they have an opportunity to help with the current enrollment crisis in seminaries. Second, they will have a plan on how to become student success coaches for at-risk students. Third, they have a realistic understanding of what is possible and what is impossible when trying to help struggling students.

Audience Engagement

It will include a strategy for setting up a student success process within the library and with the cooperation of faculty. It will rely on anecdotes of particular students (identities of real students will be protected) and why some interventions succeeded and others did not.

Seminary education is designed to prepare individuals for leadership and service within religious communities, providing a deep and comprehensive understanding of foundational texts, theological doctrines, church history and contemporary social contexts. To achieve this, the use of archives and primary resources is invaluable. Archives provide direct access to the materials that shaped theological thought, allowing students to engage with the voices and perspectives of religious thinkings and leaders throughout history. By engaging with original documents, students are challenged to think critically and ask questions about authorship, context, and purpose. An understanding of historical and contemporary social issues, cultural diversity, and global perspectives is important to prepare students to engage with and address the needs of a diverse and ever-changing world. By providing a comprehensive and integrated approach to these areas, seminary education using archives can effectively prepare individuals for the diverse and dynamic roles they will play in their religious communities and beyond. In this presentation, we will explore the role of archival material in the theological education classroom, emphasizing its importance in developing historical awareness and critical thinking.

Learning Outcome

The audience will leave with a deeper understanding of how primary resources are essential tools for developing theological expertise, historical awareness, and critical thinking. They will be shown examples of archives in the classroom and the projects that are produced, and special attention will be paid to how to use primary sources in distance education, as increasingly theological students are partially or fully online.

Audience Engagement

The audience will be shown examples of primary sources and encouraged to reflect on the value of these documents in their own understanding of history and theology. The presentation will incorporate a case study(s) of archival documents used as part of a seminary course, showing how material was selected, how it was digitized and dispersed for distance learners, and examples of how students interacted with and interpreted the material. Examples of the syllabus, assignments, and work produced will be displayed.

Sensitivity readers have been utilized by authors, editors, and publishers for some time, but have gained the attention of the press in recent years. Seen by some as polarizing, a sensitivity reader is asked to identify parts of a written text that may be perceived as inappropriate or harmful to some readers, particularly those identifying with underrepresented populations. While this practice is more commonly associated with fiction writing, scholarly publishers are beginning to incorporate the practice. Members of the Books@Atla Open Press editorial board will reflect on their experiences with feedback from a sensitivity reader and how they are incorporating this practice into their editorial workflow.

Learning Outcome

Attendees will learn about sensitivity reading, what it is and how it is done. They will also learn about how sensitivity reading is applied to writing on librarianship, theology, and religious studies. We also seek to educate attendees on the Books@Atla Open Press editorial workflow in a more detailed setting that will not be possible in the joint Atla Open Press editor-in-chief panel.

Audience Engagement

While this will be a presentation of information, we hope to facilitate discussion among attendees about the merits of sensitivity reading and how this practice may be further tailored for our scholarly field of theological and religious studies librarianship. We are very interested in listening and receiving feedback from attendees about what is important to them about sensitivity reading.

Securing funding for Open Educational Resources (OER) and digitization projects can be a
transformative opportunity for theological libraries. The Scholarly Communications and Digital Initiatives Committee will hold a panel of successful past grant recipients to discuss their challenges and lessons learned in the process of both applying for the Atla grants, and successfully completing their projects. Together this panel will explore the complexities of navigating funding applications, institutional priorities, and project logistics.

Learning Outcome


Audience Engagement

The attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions from the panelists through the open Q&A and will also be invited to participate in some interactive polling to understand their familiarity with the Atla grants.

Most theological libraries employ student workers in various capacities and for various tasks. Indeed, we could not offer the services or hours of operation we do without them. Far from being minions on whom we can fob off grunt work (like shelving), our student workers not only perform essential tasks (like shelving), but also offer a vital connection with the wider student body and can provide valuable insight into students’ perceptions of the curriculum, workload, faculty expectations, and institutional effectiveness. They are our secret weapon. In this session, colleagues will share insights into how we might harness this power (for good, naturally). We will also consider best practices, and cautionary tales, related to hiring, scheduling, training, and supervising. Finally, we will commend student employment as a fruitful recruiting ground for potential future colleagues. After all, many of us began our careers in theological libraries as student workers.

Learning Outcome

In addition to some practical ideas, attendees will come away with a better way of thinking about our student workers, their role in the library, and the work they do, focused less on how many books they shelve (as important as that is) than on the connections they have with the wider student body. This is especially important as theological libraries become more collaborative communal spaces.

Audience Engagement

We plan to engage our audience by sharing and demonstrating practical tools for addressing common challenges (e.g., scheduling), and by offering an opportunity for them to share their own insights, observations, and experiences in the discussion.

As classical philosophers debated the essence of techne—the art of making and doing—educators now grapple with the implications of generative artificial intelligence. Questions arise about student engagement with AI: Do their creations align with the ethical standards and integrity we uphold? To navigate this journey from techne to trust, transparency is paramount. It involves openly sharing how AI is used for academic work, demystifying the process by making work with AI visible.
Techne and its connections to AI-like constructs in popular culture, literature, and myth provide a rich context for exploring AI's ethical and practical dimensions. This presentation engages two "architectures of visibility"—transparency (voluntary visibility that builds trust) and surveillance (imposed visibility that erodes agency). Through metaliteracy's four domains (cognitive, metacognitive, behavioral, and affective), we demonstrate how stories illuminate the difference between coercive surveillance and empowering transparency. We offer a model lesson using Black Mirror's "Nosedive" to explore how technologies of surveillance affect behavior and learning, contrasting this with approaches that build trust through voluntary transparency.

Learning Outcome

Participants will: Understand key distinctions between surveillance technologies and technologies of surveillance; Explore how storytelling can illuminate ethical approaches to AI visibility; Learn practical strategies for implementing transparent AI use that enhances learning; Develop approaches for helping students navigate AI visibility in educational contexts

Audience Engagement

As with past sessions, we plan to gamify our presentation to foster active learning; we also plan to engage participants in robust discussion about their experiences with (AI) transparency and surveillance as we co-create strategies for teaching AI visibility in theological education.

This conversation group will explore the possibility of beginning an interest group for library leaders (i.e. deans, directors, heads, managers, etc.). According to the Interest Group Handbook, interest groups offer “members the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversation, discuss relevant topics, and participate in problem solving.” An interest group for leaders has a lot of potential for supporting both seasoned leaders and those who are new to leadership. Come to this conversation group ready to pitch in and share your ideas!

Learning Outcome

Attendees will learn more about developing an interest group and will have the opportunity to participate in its development.

Audience Engagement

We will engage attendees by direct conversation and questions.

The Catholic News Archive (CNA) is a rich resource that offers valuable insight into a broad spectrum of research topics, ranging from theological and ecclesiastical studies to social, cultural, and political history. This presentation will highlight how scholars, students, and librarians can leverage Catholic newspapers to explore historical narratives, public discourse, and community dynamics.
Catholic newspapers have long served as platforms for religious communities to engage with pressing societal issues, including immigration, civil rights, education, labor movements, and international relations. By examining how these newspapers frame and respond to contemporary events, researchers can gain deeper insight into the intersection of faith and public life. The CNA’s extensive digital holdings provide access to primary source materials that reflect both localized and global perspectives, making it a vital tool for interdisciplinary research. Notably, the archive includes newspapers in non-English languages, which offer unique perspectives on immigrant communities and their engagement with Catholicism and broader societal issues.
This session will explore how scholars can utilize Catholic newspapers to investigate issues such as race relations, social justice movements, and Catholic perspectives on public policy. Additionally, it will provide practical guidance for navigating the CNA’s digital repository, incorporating it into coursework, and fostering critical engagement with historical media sources. Special attention will be given to the ecumenical slant of certain papers, such as the 'Catholic Worker', which engaged with broader social justice themes and interfaith dialogue.

Learning Outcome

An understanding of how the Catholic New Archive provides a unique Catholic perspective on historic events, social and cultural issues, and key community concerns.
How the Catholic News Archive can serve scholarly research needs of researchers from all denominations.
How the Catholic News Archive has changed and grown.
What the future of the Catholic News Archive looks like and how others can engage with its growth.

Audience Engagement

Through an examination of the information that can be found in the Catholic News Archive. The panel will ask the audience to connect with the Archive so they can explore different topics. It will ask the audience to consider the ways in which their researchers have had expressed needs and how the archive could support them now and in the future. There will be a discussion of where the platform currently is, where it might go, and how we can all help to grow the resource.

In this session, the Atla Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will guide conversation between Atla members and Jeannine Hill Fletcher’s essay, “The Promising Practice of Antiracist Approaches to Interfaith Studies.” We will examine Atla’s history of diversity efforts and initiatives and look forward to potential futures.

Professor Hill Fletcher teaches at the intersection of Systematic Theology and issues of
diversity (religious diversity, Christian cultural diversity, race, and gender). In her essay, “The Promising Practice of Antiracist Approaches to Interfaith Studies,” Hill Fletcher outlines the ways that racial and religious identities have been used to structure relationships between those with power and those without power. By examining the history of White Christian identity within a US context, Hill Fletcher argues that interreligious and interfaith studies in particular, and theological education more generally, must grapple with the histories of White Christian privileges in order to reimagine the impact of religion and education in the US.

The purpose of this session is to better understand the history of Atla within the religious and racial history of the US, reflect on the institutions that make up religious studies and theological education, and identify ways to advance Atla’s affirmation of the intrinsic value of all members.

To fully engage in conversation, participants are encouraged to read Jeannine Hill Fletcher’s essay “The Promising Practice of Antiracist Approaches to Interfaith Studies,” in Interreligious/Interfaith Studies: Defining a New Field, ed. By Eboo Patel, Jennifer Howe Peace, and Noah J. Silverman (Beacon Press, 2018): 137-146.

Learning Outcome

Attendees will leave this conversation session with further knowledge regarding Atla and diversity efforts, especially with regard to interfaith and interreligious initiatives. They will contribute to an ongoing dialogue on the future of diversity in Atla and in their own institutions. Participants will share with each other their laments for their current situations and their hopes and intents for moving forward.

Audience Engagement

After a brief presentation based on the Hill Fletcher article, we will break into small groups for guided conversation and then the groups will report back to the whole.

The paper discusses how learners’ epistemological beliefs may have impacts on their learning progress and their attitudes to learning-related activities (Hofer, 2004). Epistemological beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing are known to facilitate or constrain learners’ understanding, reasoning, thinking, learning, and achievement (Conley et al., 2004).

In particular, this paper focuses on the impacts of learners’ epistemological beliefs on instructional practice that means teaching-related activities. The assumption is that learners’ beliefs about knowing may influence their attitudes towards every aspect of their learning and teaching-related activities. The learners’ epistemological beliefs may also be affected and adjusted by the instructional practice they experienced.

This paper proposes that understanding learners’ epistemological beliefs is beneficial for an institute that includes teachers and libraries both. The library, who is not only a collector of resources but also becoming a learning-related service provider is better aware of these beliefs. Whatever programs and activities a library offers will be utilized the best when a library knows the learners the most.

Specifically, this paper demonstrates different research studies including the author’s. Rooted in the field of social science, their purposes focused on how explicitly a learner’s epistemological beliefs shape their perception related to learning and how they accept certain activities as learning experiences. And the studies found that (1)those with a broader epistemological belief tend to grasp a more comprehensive perception of learning and (2) those with a broader epistemological belief tend to find a typical daily event more meaningful.

Finally, the paper discusses how the findings in those studies can be applicable and helpful to the libraries in the field of religious and theological education that is facing so many changes and challenges.

Learning Outcome

As a librarian's job is to collect knowledge, to connect resources, and to help teachers and learners, this topic, while not the most practical, should be able to offer insights that will help librarians' contextual understanding deeper and richer.

Audience Engagement

Frequent interaction through questions and answers will be made during the talk.

Librarians are constantly being asked to do more with less, especially when it comes to maintaining library collections on a reduced budget. One way that librarians can increase their periodical collections without spending more on journal subscriptions is by adding open access (OA) journals to their library’s holdings. But how does one identify and evaluate what is available? In his Atla Annual 2021 Listen and Learn session titled “Open Access Religious Resources for your Students,” Jeff Siemon shared his collection of approximately 800 OA religion journals. Siemon inspired me to create my own collection of Catholic OA religion journals, i.e. journals of religion and/or theology published by Catholic institutions and/or containing primarily Catholic content. Later that year, I presented my collection of 146 journals at the Catholic Library Association’s Fall Conference. Four years later, my collection has nearly doubled. I will describe how I found these journals, highlighting specific journal indexes, including a comparison between the Directory of Open Access Journals and the Atla Religion Database. I also present updated analyses of journals by continent and country, by language, and by subject, highlighting remarkable trends. Lastly, I will discuss gaps and challenges in the Catholic OA religion journal publishing landscape.

Learning Outcome

Attendees will gain a greater awareness of what Catholic OA religion journals are currently available.

Audience Engagement

I will engage the audience primarily through charts breaking down the collection by continent and country, language, and subject, presented as slides.

The Atla Conduct Committee is comprised of Atla members who voluntarily serve to promote the Association's Code of Conduct. The presentation will provide an opportunity for the committee to discuss shared values from the code and restorative steps that are taken when incidents are reported from Atla spaces.

Learning Outcome

1. Articulate to others why would associations or organizations need a code of conduct or similar document and how they may apply in a religious context.
2. Distinguish among issues requiring the work of the conduct committee and issues handled through other channels.
3. Understand the role of a conduct committee relative to the parties involved in a complaint and organization with stakeholders (e.g. Board of Directors).
4. Apply basic principles of restorative justice to mediation and conflict resolution.

Audience Engagement

The panel will share key components of the code, how the code came into existence, and its importance to Atla. There will also be time for attendee Q&A.

Text analysis has emerged as an invaluable tool for scholars, especially in the humanities and social sciences. In recent years, there has been extensive research published on various applications of text analysis, including user experience sentiment analysis, image analysis, and visual mapping techniques. Furthermore, text analysis provides a framework to identify patterns, organize and categorize themes of sacred and religious documents, and advance the understanding of religious studies and theological librarianship.

This presentation explores how text analysis and visualization tools were integrated into library instruction sessions in a pilot project tailored for engineering and business students. The presentation is structured in three sections: First, alignment of library instruction with class assignment learning objectives emphasizes interdepartmental collaboration and deepens understanding of learners’ backgrounds and competencies. Second, the pedagogical framework includes a lesson plan model highlighting the significance of student participation; this approach, grounded in the ACRL framework Information Creation as a Process, reinforces inquiry-based learning. Third, methodological implications introduce text analysis methods for instructors aiming to incorporate visualization literacy into their teaching practices.

The presentation concludes with an overview of the findings, comparing and contrasting data to demonstrate innovative pedagogical approaches in library instruction. The results highlight how text analysis tools can alter traditional library instruction into more engaging, data-driven learning experiences for learners. This initiative enhances students’ understanding of library resources, broadens their perspectives on research, and empowers them to critically analyze resources. The insights gained from this project demonstrate a pedagogical model for librarians and faculty seeking to integrate digital tools into library instruction.

Learning Outcome

-Text analysis tools in library instruction enhance students’ information literacy skills and foster critical engagement with digital resources.
-Integrating the ACRL framework into text analysis library instruction strengthens students’ research perspectives and motivates participation in scholarly discourse.
-Library-faculty collaborations bolster discipline-specific leaning opportunities through text analysis coursework projects.

Audience Engagement

The presentation will offer participants with a structured lesson plan model demonstrating how to implement this pedagogical approach in the library instruction classes. Building from theoretical foundations in text and visual literacy, participants will explore practical strategies to adapt these methods to their specific courses.

As a hub for learning, the theological library facilitates the resourcing and delivery of academic material on campus. Within this setting, library staff serve at the forefront of curating content to support student objectives. The advent of Artificial Intelligence has led libraries to analyze anew the meaning of information literacy as students increasingly turn to this recent technology to research, analyze and disseminate their knowledge. Fundamental to this discussion are 1) the challenges and opportunities for information literacy in light of student AI usage and 2) library and institutional policies that will guide students to be information literate in an ethical and responsible fashion.

Learning Outcome

The audience will reflect on the theological library's responsibility to be the harbinger of information literacy as students enter into the age of Artificial Intelligence. Key questions to be discussed include 1) the challenges posed to information literacy as a result of student AI use, 2) the reconceptualization of information literacy as libraries align themselves with innovative AI usage among students, and 3) the policies needed to guide libraries as they face an uncharted future with AI.

Audience Engagement

After a brief overview of AI principles and terms, the audience will be divided into groups and provided with a series of open discussion questions focusing on the role, implementation, and policies pertaining to information literacy as students use AI for their academic pursuits. Attendees will be given the opportunity to debrief with the goal of generating key conclusions about the ramifications for information literacy in an AI-infused academic world. Participants can subsequently join a monitored listserv or blog for ongoing discussion, comments, and questions about issues raised during the conversation group.

Five years after the COVID pandemic started, theological libraries are still coping with the aftermath. Many of the library processes and services had to change immediately in order to resource students, faculty, and staff. While much of what libraries do has either gone back to “normal” or transformed into something new, there are still some things that remain more fluid, such as working remotely. In this session, the results of a short survey will be summarized and panelists will share their specific circumstances related to working remotely. Need or have ideas? Come to our session!

Learning Outcome

Attendees will learn what issues are involved with staff working remotely so that they can apply relevant processes and ideas in their own situations.

Audience Engagement

We will engage the attendees by going through survey results, by sharing panelist “case studies,” and by allowing time for a robust Q&A.

Have you ever felt stuck when it comes to creating unique, engaging, and meaningful outreach programming at your library? If so, you’re in luck! Staff members from the Reference, Instruction, and Outreach Department and the Special Collections Department at Pitts Theology Library have collaborated in building a successful outreach model, called Brews & Books, and we are excited to share what we have learned along the way.

Brews & Books is an event that brings archival and rare book items outside the front doors of the library to meet community members. The library provides coffee (which supports the business of a Candler alum) and tea with some information about the items showcased through signature bookmarks and digital screen displays. It is an informal way to highlight materials that are unique to the Pitts Theology Library holdings while building community with students, faculty, and staff.

This session will be done in two parts. The first part will include a brief presentation from panelists about the particulars surrounding the work necessary to create and execute our Brews & Books events. The second part will allow time for attendees to have an in-person experience of what a Brews & Books event is like, as well as an opportunity to brainstorm together about what kind of programming might work at their own library.

Learning Outcome

We want others to feel inspired to find materials that are unique to their institution and showcase them in a way that is accessible for students, but also practically beneficial for their libraries. Participants will leave knowing how to begin the brainstorming process for collaborative and interdepartmental outreach events like this, how to plan the practicalities of outreach events, who to look to for support within their institutions, how to learn from trial and error, statistical data to justify continued outreach, and helpful software and handouts to use.

Audience Engagement

Audience participation and feedback will be central to our presentation. Those attending, both in person and online, will be able to experience a Brews & Books event for themselves. Following this, we’ll invite an open conversation to reflect on the experience: What aspects resonated most? What could be improved? In particular, we’re eager to hear from online participants, as a key goal of these events is to create an authentic and inclusive way for distance learners to engage and contribute. We look forward to collaborating as colleagues to explore and refine this approach together. To keep the conversation going beyond the session, we’ll provide a custom bookmark (a staple of our Brews & Books events) featuring key steps, suggestions, and a QR code linking to additional resources.

Eager to participate in scholarly conversation and circulate your ideas among a growing readership? The Editors-in-Chief from Books, Theological Librarianship, and TCB will share how you can publish with Atla Open Press. They will present on the scope of each of their publications, demystify the proposal process, share what happens during editing, and offer tips on what makes a successful publication.

Learning Outcome

Attendees will have a greater understanding of Atla Open Press and will receive encouragement to consider writing, editing, and publishing to further their professional development and contribute to the guild.

Audience Engagement

Each EIC will be responsible for their own portion of the panel. Engagement may take the form of slide shows, live Press website demonstrations, audience polling, and audience questions.