Craig is the Dean of Libraries at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX (2,500 FTE). Craig has been an ACL member for 15 years.
Describe yourself using a book title: To Kill a Mockingbird
What’s the best thing about being a librarian? The best thing about being a librarian are the opportunities for growth and service. Each day is a learning experience as we engage our students and faculty.
What are you currently reading? Reparations by Kwon and Thompson & Dominion by Tom Holland
Describe ACL in three words: Dynamic, collaborative, professionalism
How do you (or How have you), as an academic librarian, contribute to your campus? As seminary librarians we seek to enable our students in the area of ministry and service. We hope their experience on campus will engender a lifestyle of continued learning in the Word of God that will be demonstrated for their congregations and communities. Our librarians want to connect with the students through face-to-face engagement as well as social media.
I began my career as a librarian… I was a library worker in high school. My high school librarian inspired me to become a librarian and at that time I thought I would follow that route as I received a BA in LibSci (back in the day when this degree was issued). But, my college library professor was also a seminary graduate and she directed toward a MLS. While in the MLS program, I felt God’s call to attend seminary. And, my MLS advisor and professor had been a seminary librarian. It seems God had intentionally placed men and women who were seminary librarians in my path to direct me toward the field of librarianship in seminaries. I was 21 when I began my first professional job in seminary library. It has been and continues to be a fulfilling profession as I have to joy of meeting men and women who are called to serve God’s people.
What do you value about ACL? ACL is distinctively an organization which promotes all the skills of professional librarianship with the caveat of a Christian statement of faith. Our unified worldview of Christ as Savior provides the unique purpose for service and direction to our profession.
How were you introduced to ACL? I learned of ACL through the Christian Periodical Index. This index was useful to students in religion so I wanted to know the organization that produced this work.
How are you or have you been involved in ACL? Seminary Section Leadership, The Christian Librarian — Book Review Editor, Christian Periodical Index — Indexer
Do you have any specific interests in the library world? I am interested in the movement of information into the digital frontiers and the need to transition material stored in old media formats into digital before deterioration makes the content inaccessible. Additionally, I am pursuing a certification in the Guild of Book Workers in order to do conservation work on rare books.