Three weeks ago, the staff of The Burke Library were delighted to welcome faculty, students, and staff from Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University to an opening reception marking the start of a new academic year. As part of the festivities, we were also very pleased to open a new exhibit on the first […]
Mapping the Stacks
Have you ever gone looking for a book in the Burke circulating collections, only to be met with a shelf so tightly crammed that retrieving the text you need feels like tug of war? Books can crowd! There never seems to be enough room! You’ve seen it in your homes, in your offices, in […]
Interview with Johonna McCants-Turner
This summer, Union Theological Seminary hosted the Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life (APRIL) in its annual Summer Colloquium presented in partnership with Auburn Seminary. Each year, the colloquium brings about a dozen participants to “work on vital contemporary questions about religious life and social justice” in a collaborative discussion environment. This […]
Instructional Videos from the Early-Pandemic Era
I’m not the only librarian who added “asynchronous learning” to my vocabulary in the last two years – most educators became familiar with this phrase during the early months of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when classrooms were shut down. Librarians were part of this shift too. How could we continue teaching library users about […]
The Construction and Evolution of the UTS Campus: a Re-Imagined Exhibit
With the new residential tower at 122nd and Claremont underway, construction seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. The Burke Library staff thought now would be an appropriate time to highlight the past and present of Union’s physical campus. Now on view on level L1 of the Burke Library, “The Construction and Evolution […]
Union Seminary Quarterly Review (USQR) Archive
The online archive of the Union Seminary Quarterly Review is now openly available in Academic Commons, thanks to our Circulation staff and team of students working at the Burke Library, as well as our colleagues in the Digital Scholarship unit of the Libraries. The USQR, founded in 1939 as “a platform for inspired and […]
Gratian’s “Decretum” and the Foundations of Christian Legal Education
The Burke Library’s new exhibit, “Gratian’s Decretum and the Foundations of Christian Legal Education,” explores the history and development of one of the most important legal texts of all time: Gratian’s Concordia discordantium canonum (“Harmony from Discordant Canons”) – or, more simply, the Decretum – a twelfth-century legal textbook designed to reconcile aspects of […]
Looking Back & Looking Forward
As many will know, in September the Burke Library reopened its physical spaces and in-person services for affiliate students, faculty, and staff. It has been wonderful to welcome everyone back into the reading room, study spaces, and stacks. For the previous 17 months, though our physical facilities remained closed to patrons, the Burke staff continued to […]
Belonging As a Latinx Seminarian
Seminary was an unexpected “next-step” for my life. My recent Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) experience has pulled me towards exploring the world of theology at Union (UTS) as a first-year Divinity student. As I was reading through the UTS Student Digest newsletter, I saw a job that contained the words “Justo Gonzalez” and “Hispanic […]
The Return of Special Collections at Burke!
Earlier this Fall, The Burke Library proudly reopened its doors to the Columbia and Union communities after being closed for eighteen months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been wonderful to see so many new and returning friends use Burke’s study spaces, stacks, and general collections. Our staff is particularly proud to provide […]