In the fall of 1911, the newly formed Andover-Harvard Theological Library opened its doors for the use of faculty, students, staff, alumni, and local clergy. In his annual report, Dean William Wallace Fenn reported this event in a single sentence:
"In accordance with our agreement with Andover Theological Seminary, the libraries of the two institutions have been consolidated into the Andover-Harvard Theological Library."
One hundred years later, we celebrated the anniversary of the opening of the library with several events in October: a lecture, a book sale, a historical walking tour, and an open house.
Gustav Niebuhr delivered the Centennial Lecture, "Choosing Words over Bullets," on October 6, 2011. Niebhur is Professor of Religion and Media at Syracuse University, former religion journalist for The New York Times, regular contributor to the Washington Post's "On Faith" website, and author of Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America (Viking, 2008). Watch a video of the lecture.
Library staff and the HDS Office of Communications collaborated on a slideshow of historical photos of the library and the faculty, staff, and students who use it.
Find out more about Andover-Harvard Theological Library by reading a short history of the library and its predecessors.
Visitors to the library's Centennial Open House on October 27, 2011 shared their own book recommendations. Browse the list of community book pics.