Meet the Special Library
By Claudette Newhall, Congregational Library
14 Beacon Street, 2^nd Floor Boston, MA 02108
http://www.14beacon.org
617-523-0470  
Located next door to the Boston Athenaeum 

The Basics

• Library Manager: Claudette Newhall, Associate Librarian

• Patron Base: The services of the library are available to ministers and lay people of all denominations. Our patrons include ministers, historians, students, genealogists and any other persons interested in the collections. Anyone may borrow books from the circulating collection in person or by mail. 
  
• Staff Size / Type of Staff: Total of 6 staff, including Dr. Margaret Lamberts Bendroth, Librarian/Executive Director; Jessica Steytler, Archivist; Norman Farkas, Technical Services;  Robin Duckworth, Reference & Circulation Assistant; John Simon, Mail Clerk.
  
• Collection: The Library contains more than 225,000 titles and receives 50 current periodicals.    

We have an extensive collection of contemporary and classic religious material. Fields represented in the circulation collections include biblical studies, theology, philosophy, preaching, worship, history, education, church organization and missions, social problems, church music, biography, and the natural and social sciences as they affect religion. Non-circulating collections include a rich collection of accounts of Congregational councils, reports of charitable societies, local church histories, town histories, church architecture, religious periodicals, printed sermons and hymnals.

Q & A

• When did the library / information center begin / open? How has it evolved since?

The library was started in 1853 by a gathering of Congregational ministers and layman from New England and beyond with a gift of fifty-six books and pamphlets. It opened in a rented room in the old Tremont Temple. The corner stone of its current location at 14 Beacon Street was laid in 1897 and by 1923 the collection held 70,000 volumes and 76,000 pamphlets. In the 1920’s the library began loaning its books by mail to borrowers through out the United States and has continued this service to the current time. A list of new books acquired by the library is printed in “The Bulletin” three times a year and is also posted on the web site.

• What interesting physical features are present in the library?

Here is a description of our reading room from the article “Centennial Observance of 14 Beacon Street Boston, Mass.” Speech given by Hal Worthley, formerly Librarian/Executive Director of the Congregational Library Nov.2, 1998: “Enter the Congregational Library today, walk down the red carpeted aisle between the microfilm study area and the old fashioned card catalogue, and you arrive in the reading room. High above you are the delicate sparkling frescos painted a century ago by Tiffany artists. Gazing down from the walls are likenesses in oil of religious spokesmen of bygone years,…Step to the great two story windows, and you may gaze out on the old Granary…” 

• What are some current projects on hand? How do you perceive users or staff will receive them?

The Library has continued to use an old fashioned card catalog. This year we have begun the task of automating our catalog. The Congregational Library’s main reasons to begin an automation project are collection access, collection management, reporting, and circulation. The goals of this project are improving library services to patrons worldwide, increasing staff productivity, and providing greater visibility and accessibility for the unique collections in the Library and Archive. In addition to improving overall access, the automated system will allow us to accurately inventory collections, perform collection development activities that support the mission of the Congregational Library, and provide numbers needed to make budget and hiring decisions. Fragile and unique materials can also be scanned and preserved. The staff, Board of Directors, and Library Committee members are enthusiastically supportive of this project. We are all anticipating making our materials available to a wider audience and seeing our patron base expand. 

• How do patrons use the library? Or how will they use the library after the catalog has been automated?

Our patrons will no longer have to come to the library to use the card catalog or call or email a staff member to search for titles in our collections. Our archival finding aids will also be searchable in the catalog.  

• What services does the library offer to support its patrons?

Teachers and church leaders are invited to bring adult groups, classes, youth fellowships or confirmation classes to visit. The staff can provide a talk on our heritage and some of the artifacts we maintain such as a chained illuminated bible, John Elliot’s 1663 Indian Bible, the baptismal record of Benjamin Franklin from Old South Church, and other rare books and artifacts.  

• What are some unusual reference questions asked?

Many questions involve individuals researching family members who were ministers or missionaries. Others are inquiries regarding historical events in Boston and worship services and customs in the 19^th century. 

• What makes your library unique amongst others of its kind?

The Congregational Library consciously preserves and organizes works for access to historical and contemporary materials that pertain to the Congregational, Christian, and United Church of Christ traditions and is the only institution which safeguards public access to these materials. This is in accordance with its mission statement. The Library’s uniqueness is in its breadth and depth of collected resources dealing with the religious, political, economic, and cultural role of Congregationalism in New England. The collection includes many rare books, pamphlets, and periodicals. The records of Congregational agencies, local church and town histories and sermonic, theological and historical writings documenting five centuries of Congregational thought and activity complete the collection. The library serves any and all that ask to use the resources kept in our unique treasure house. Many of our items are the only publicly available copies in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States. 

• What would be your “dream” enhancement to the library?

We hope to complete a renovation of the library to include additional research space and sponsor fellowships for visiting scholars.  We are also committed to digitizing many of the pamphlets and unique imprints in our collection for better access and preservation. We want to be known in the future as the “Center for the Study of Congregationalism.” 

• What challenges does the library face in the near future?

Our current challenge is to fund our automation and retrospective conversion project. We are writing grant proposals and researching other fund raising options. Our operating expenses are provided by the rentals to non-profit organizations, which share the Congregational House with us.

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