The School of Theology Library holds extensive Bible collections, including the vast Massachusetts Bible Society Collection, containing approximately 4500 items covering 1500 languages into which the Bible or parts have been translated. These combined collections contain nearly 75% of the early Bible editions cited in The Book of a Thousand Tongues. The Kimball Collection contains our oldest materials, including a Latin Bible from 1497.
Due to our institution's origins and affiliation with the United Methodist Church, the library has a strong collection on Methodism. The archival depository for the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church is located at the library (see our archives page, too, for more information). Our collections include 18th-century Wesleyan publications, and books in our Heritage Collection date back to our institution's founding.
From the middle of the nineteenth century, the School of Theology has educated missionaries. The library reflects one hundred and fifty years of world-wide missions interest. The collection supports advanced graduate research in missiology and comparative theology. The missions collection focuses on the history of Christian missions, and contains a sizeable collection of early missionary writings and histories. There are numerous missionary journals, diaries, and biographies.
Our hymnological collections are one of the strengths of the School of Theology Library (arguably, among the best in the nation!) Among these extensive collections is the Nutter-Metcalf Collection, which total more than 2500 volumes and form the core of the hymnological resources in the STH Library. The Hymn Society of United States and Canada Collection contains approximately 900 volumes.
The School of Theology Library owns approximately 200,000 volumes of materials related to theology, its subdisciplines, and related topics, in order to support the curricula and research of the School of Theology.
In collaboration with faculty at the School's Center for Global Christianity and Mission, the School of Theology has also amassed a considerable collection of missions-related materials, including nearly 7,000 physical volumes and nearly 3,500 e-books related to missiology. In addition, the library has a sizable collection of microform materials related to missions history. An example of a collaborative digital project between the center and the library's research collections is the History of Missiology website.
The library provides access to nearly 25,000 titles (over 17,000 physical volumes) in the discipline of Practical Theology, ranging from ministry, church growth, homiletics and worship, to hymnology. These titles were acquired to support the research of faculty and doctoral students affiliated with the School's Center for Practical Theology, as well as our online Doctor of Ministry program. They provide practical knowledge for ordination candidates in the pastoral ministry track and students in the chaplaincy track of the Master of Divinity program.
As the founding school of Boston University and with a rich history of affiliation with the United Methodist Church, our Methodist holdings include nearly 8,000 physical volumes and access to over 1,500 e-books related to Methodist history and Methodism. We are home to the New England Conference archives, which includes church records, and archived records of conference boards and agencies, along with Methodist-related social and service organization records.
Some of our other unique general collections, including the A. David Lewis Religion and Graphica Collection and Power, Privilege, and Prophetic Witness (which began with the class gift from the Class of 2016) are available among our circulating collections.
Click on the pages at left to explore some of the unique collections acquired by the School of Theology Library, beginning with the institution’s founding in 1839 to the present day. These collections include many rare and not-widely owned or accessible materials.
Special collections are located in our closed-stack Research Collection area and are in-library use only. Permission to access any item in the Research Collection may be obtained from full-time staff librarians during regular hours (please check the School of Theology Library homepage for hours during the current academic period). For questions, please email sthref@bu.edu.
