Mission
The Booher Library provides space, resources, and services in support of the seminary’s mission. Traditional library practices are paired with new and innovative approaches to fostering information literacy and a lifelong love of learning.
Patrons
The full breadth of the library’s offerings is available to Seminary of the Southwest students, faculty, and staff. Many services are extended to Southwest graduates, members of the Board of Trustees, students of neighboring educational institutions, members of the Church, retired faculty and staff, residents in the neighborhood, institutional partners, TexShare card holders, and the world. To apply for a library card, please visit the library and bring your photo ID and, if applicable, your TexShare card from your home library.
Space
The Library offers a comfortable, welcoming space for quiet study, group work, and conversation with peers. Both open tables and individual carrels (some of which may be reserved) are available for study. Secluded, quiet study space is available downstairs. Off the main lobby, the Judge Charles Black Room provides an inviting setting for meditation, reading, and conferences among shelves of English literary and historical books. WiFi connection, computers, and printing/copying services are available.
Read more about library meeting rooms and study spaces.
Resources
The Booher Library holdings include more than 150,000 items, with several thousand in the Spanish-language Colección Hispana. Ample resources cover all the major theological disciplines, including an abundance of materials concerned with Anglicanism and the tradition and history of the Episcopal Church.
The Library offers a growing number of electronic resources. These resources may be accessed through Seeker, the Library’s discovery tool, or through the online catalog shared with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. To keep up with the latest news about the library’s e-resources and other services, follow us on twitter @booher_library.
Services
The professional staff is available to assist patrons with finding, retrieving, and assessing library resources. Workshops designed to help students use resources efficiently and effectively are offered throughout the academic year. The Library also employs student workers who are happy to assist with the use of library resources.
The Booher Library collaborates closely with the Stitt Library at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, just a few blocks away. A slightly longer walk takes seminarians to the fifth largest library in the United States, the General Libraries of The University of Texas at Austin, including the Harry Ransom Center for rare books and cultural materials and the unequaled Benson Latin American Collection. All these libraries extend borrowing privileges to our students [and we extend such privileges to their students] free of charge.
Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary Loan service is available for currently enrolled students, faculty, and staff. If an item needed for research is not available locally, the staff – upon request – will attempt to borrow it from another library through a process called Interlibrary Loan (ILL). This service is usually free unless the lending library charges. In that event, the charges are passed on to the borrower. Please note that ILL often takes several weeks, so it is best to seek out resources well in advance of assignment due dates. You may place ILL requests directly through Seeker, the library’s discovery tool, or you may contact Lisa at 512-439-0350 or lisa.johnson@ssw.edu.
Booher Library Name
Booher Library is named in honor of Harold and Patricia Booher. Harold and Pat served the seminary for over thirty years: he as librarian, professor of New Testament, and secretary of the faculty; she as assistant for periodicals and acquisitions. Their contributions to the life and lore of the seminary are many, varied, and fondly remembered.