Spencer Library Mission and History

SPENCER LIBRARY MISSION STATEMENT

The Spencer Library participates in the mission of the seminary by:

• Maintaining resources that support the curriculum and academic goals of the seminary.

• Supporting the scholarship and research needs of faculty and students.

• Honoring the seminary’s heritage as an ecumenical institution within the Christian tradition.

• Supporting the institution’s commitments to interreligious dialogue, justice and peacemaking, and the arts as they relate to theology and religious experience.

• Providing access to the broader universe of information resources through partnerships that make those resources accessible to faculty and students.

• Providing bibliographic instruction that helps faculty and students develop effective and efficient research skills and encourages the wise and ethical use of information.

• Serving as a resource for lifelong learning and ongoing formation for clergy, laity, and others in the wider community, within the limits of licensing and partnership agreements.

SPENCER LIBRARY HISTORY

The Spencer Library was formed from the merging of two collections at the founding of United Theological Seminary in the early 1960s; Mission House Theological Seminary and Yankton School of Theology.  

It was named in honor of Harriet and Edson Spencer, whose generous gift in 1992 helped with a major remodel of the library on the United campus in New Brighton, Minnesota.