Bethel Library collection, 1901-2024
Scope and Contents
The Bethel Library collection dates from 1901 and is ongoing. It covers 8 boxes and 9.5 cubic feet.
The Seminary Library series covers three boxes. The General folder contains documents of various subjects, such as handwritten notes, library instruction, rules for the reading room, a student handbook, and some selected bibliographies. The dated folders date between 1971 and 1993, containing various documents from those years, such as interactions between the two libraries, job descriptions, library rules, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and statistics. The Library Description folder holds a description of the architectual award given to the seminary building and other descriptions of the library during its early era in the 1960s. The Self Studies folders include surveys of library resources, American Theological Library Association development, surveys of use and needs, statistics, and job reviews. The Consultants folder are reports mostly from the American Theological Library Association. The Baptist Survey was studying the Baptist collections in seminary libraries. The Annual Report folder dates mostly to the 1970s and contains information and statistics to assist in the creation of annual reports. Other Reports and Analyses date to the 1960s. The Seminary Technical Services Manual was created mostly for training in 1964. The Budget folder dates from the 1960s to the 1980s. The Computerization folder holds a document from 1974 regarding the computerization of the library catalog. The Continuing Theological Education folder is not specific to the library, but the Seminary as a whole. The Material Added to Collections folders date between 1969 and 1975. The Archives folder contains information from the BGC Historical Committee, correspondence with researchers, and checks from the Baptist General Conference, dating mostly to the 1990s. The 1978 Building Committee folders holds meeting minutes from an ad hoc committee regarding the building, the separation between libraries, and areas of cooperation. The Library Dedication folder dates to the early 1980s, when the Carl Lundquist Library Addition was built. The Invitation to Bid for Architects is from 1981 when Bethel was looking to build the Carl Lundquist Library Addition. The Gift Books folders contain mostly correspondence acknowledging gifts of books to the library. The Correspondence folders date from 1955 to 1993, many from David Guston and Norris Magnuson. The statistics folder contains some budget material and collection holdings data.
The San Diego file includes documents about the library at Bethel Seminary West in San Diego, primarily book lists.
The Enquiry to Students Regarding the Library dates to 1955. It asks questions about the physical facilities of the library, shortcomings, and improvements.
The Strategic Planning folders date from the 1970s and 1980s. These folders include planning for the library and the overall school.
The Library Journal folder dates between 1970 and 1971. Its contents involve the Library and Journal Committee and the dissolution of the Seminary Journal.
The Statistics folders date mostly to the 1960s and hold data of holdings, expenditures, periodicals lists, and cataloging. Loose ledger pages record circulation statistics from 1932 to 1945. Some cataloging statistics are recorded directly on folders.
The Library Committee Meeting Minutes date from 1952 through 1972.
The Budgets folders date between 1958 and 2010, with a gap in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Report from L.R. Elliott was from the 1957 library visit from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Other studies and observation of the libary are held in a corresponding folder and date mostly to the 1950s and 1960s. An Examiner's Report for College Accreditation dates to 1959. The Self Survey report from 1959 was done to be included in the college's self survey.
The Library Guides folder holds guides for library patrons and students.
The Staff Meetings folder date to 1963 and 1964.
The Salaries folder holds pay scales and salary information from the 1960s, as well as considerations of librarians as faculty members.
The Articles file contains various writings, such as the annual report from 1961, a library building fifth floor requirement, and a draft of the mission and goals statement.
The Library Division folder contains information about the division between the college and seminary libraries, especially from 1978, when a merger between libraries was considered.
The Structure of the University folder holds documents on restructuring the schools into a university and its library effect within the academic structure. There is also information on the general education curriculum, and an article involving the debate between pornography literature and academic freedom.
The "Important BUL Documents" folder was take from an original folder with the same name. It dates from the 1980s to the early 2000s and contains information about library instruction outcomes for students, library survey results from 2005, reference statistics, and other library study materials.
The Adult Programs folder holds meetng minutes from the Graduate AAC Committee from the 1990s, the subject being library services for graduate programs and how to fund them.
The Annual Reports files dates between 1955 and 1968. The 2013 Annual Report is titled A Day in the Bethel University Library.
Four ledgers are included in this collection, dating from the late 1800s to 1947. These include information such as additions to the library collection, book lists, circulating statistics, and library reports. Documents folded into these ledgers are kept in a separate folder, including separate library reports, library purchases, and statistics.
The Library Lilly Grant binder dates from 1996 to 2001 and deal with the finances from the Lilly Grant, funding information technology for theological teaching.
The publication Library News began as LRC News. This file holds issues beginning in 1996 until 2002.
Two Friends of the Library folders contain photographs, programs for events, and membership information. The publication Among Friends began in 1999 and is ongoing, although not a complete run of issues.
The Connie Larson files date to the 1990s and are on topics such as library mission and goals, reference and instruction statistics, and self-studies.
The Earleen Warner file dates primarily to the mid 2000s, containing library guides, a 2007 space request for the library, and reference and instruction statistics. The Digital Library files contain documents from the formation of the digital library in 2007.
The Kent Gerber CCCU presentation video dates to 2010, when he presented at the Consortium of Christian Colleges and Universities. The Kent Gerber Natural and Behavioral Science folder is filled with documents from the Divisional Affairs Committee regarding this field of study, on which Gerber served. It dates primarily from 2010 to 2018.
The Teresa Forliti Breaking Free video corresopnds to a 2018 Primetime presentation on human trafficking. A series of educational videos were created, but the locations of the others are unclear.
Several DVDs are included in this collection showing the library in the 1990s and 2000s. Some are promotional videos, such as the Library Zone spoof off the Twilight Zone.
The Library slides are photographic slides of the library. These include a library slideshow with audio from a cassette. There are slides of both the old and new campus.
The Primetime series holds posters from the university and community presentations held at the library from 2007 forward. There are also 29 videos of primetimes available in this collection on DVD.
Dates
- 1901 - 2024
Creator
- Cragg, Carole (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The majority of this collection is open to researchers.
The Teresa Forliti Breaking Free video is closed to researcher use at present. No corresponding release form is held by the archives.
Historical note
Anna Edgren, wife of John Alexis Edgren, served as the first librarian for the seminary. After Adelphia College in Seattle shut down, librarian Emanuel Schmidt brought the library to Bethel in 1919. The library building on the Snelling Avenue campus was built in 1948, and the seminary and college libraries were merged in 1949. David Guston became head librarian of the joint library in 1958. In 1963, the college and seminary libraries established separate collections. In 1965, the seminary library moved with the seminary to the Arden Hills campus. The Arden Hills campus opened its college library in 1972. In 1983, the seminary library opened a new annex to the building to expand their resources and house the archives. The college library began Primetime, featuring Bethel community presentations, in 2007. The seminary and college libraries merged in 2019. The archives was run by the library until 1998, then was organized under the President's Office as the History Center; by 2021, the History Center was reorganized as a department of the Library.
Extent
9.5 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection was arranged by the archivist during processing in 2024.
The dated folders and correspondence folders in the Seminary Library series are arranged chronologically and reflect their original order.
The Primetime posters are arranged chronologically.
Custodial History
This collection has been collected at the History Center from various places at various times. Not all acquisitions were recorded.
Much of the Seminary Library series came from David Guston and Norris Magnuson, both employees at the archives who kept their records there.
The Earleen Warner files came from Warner during her retirement in 2022. The Digital Library files were given to Kent Gerber in 2021, then came to the archives in 2023.
The Connie Larson files were found by Lyndi Fabrini in 2024.
The Kent Gerber materials came from Gerber when he left the Bethel Library in 2023.
Creator
- Cragg, Carole (Person)
- Guston, G. David, Rev. (1907-1998) (Person)
- Magnuson, Norris Alden (1932-2006) (Person)
- Title
- Bethel Library collection, 1901-2024
- Author
- Rebekah Bain
- Date
- October 2024
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the The History Center: Archives of Bethel University and Converge Repository