In observance of the Labor Day holiday, Pitts Theology Library will be closed Saturday, September 4th, through Monday, September 6th. For a listing of all library hours, please visit pitts.emory.edu/hours. We hope you enjoy a safe holiday weekend, and we look forward to welcoming you back into the library when we re-open at 7:30am on Tuesday, September 7th. Please stay informed on our latest access policies and covid protocols at pitts.emory.edu/policies.
As we begin the Fall semester at Emory University, the staff of Pitts Theology Library is excited to welcome more people into the building and provide greater access to the library’s resources. However, we continue to balance this desire for access with the challenging and changing public health situation. Below is a summary of our access policies for the Fall. For full details, visit http://pitts.emory.edu/policies. NOTE: All patrons are required to wear masks at all times, and food and drink are prohibited in the library. If you have questions or concerns about accessing the library, please contact Bo Adams, Director of Pitts Theology Library, at rmadams@emory.edu.
Access for Faculty, Students, and Staff of Emory University
The Pitts Theology Library building is open to all patrons with a valid Emory ID, which includes all current faculty, students, and staff of the University who are in compliance with Emory’s Covid policies. For these patrons, a valid Emory ID is required to access the library, through the library’s entrance turnstile. For those with a valid Emory ID, the library will be open shortened summer hours until we change to full, regular semester hours starting on Wednesday, August 25th.
Access for Those without a Valid Emory ID
Visiting researchers whose work demands access to Pitts’ collections may access the library by making a reservation, which must be approved by library administration. Reservations are available Monday through Friday, 10am-4pm, for up to 3 hours. When making a reservation, patrons will be asked to describe their need for access. All those whose reservations are approved can check in at the time of their reservation. By entering the library, visitors agree to adhere to the Emory University Visitor Policy as well as Pitts’ building use policies.
Access to Special Collections
Researchers (Emory or visiting) who need access to Special Collections materials and the Special Collections Reading Room should make a reservation with Special Collections, which is available Monday through Friday, 10am-4pm.
Circulation Policies
All circulation policies and procedures have returned to pre-Covid norms. Please visit pitts.emory.edu/borrow for full details.
We are excited to welcome you into the library, but we ask that you follow all policies and protocols to maintain a safe and sustainable research environment.
For the 2021 Pitts Summer Reading Blog, Pitts took to the hallways 
of the Candler School of Theology building in search of “the best resource you discovered during quarantine.” This week, the fifth in our series, we spoke to Spencer Roberts, Systems and Digital Scholarship Librarian. Spencer maintains all the software systems that run the library, and he coordinated digital scholarship projects for the library and for students and faculty at Candler and Emory.
Spencer’s first suggestion is a memoir of a childhood that reminded him of his own, Tara Westover’s 2018 Educated: A Memoir. Spencer writes, “
Tara Westover’s memoir about her childhood and teen years in a survivalist homeschooling family in Idaho had me revisiting my own past as a member of a small Christian denomination and homeschooler. The book received high praise and hit many bestsellers lists when released but I only encountered it last year. Reading about the physical and emotional challenges that Westover faced can be difficult, but her story is filled with honest reflections on the relationships that shaped her early life.” This book is available in print at Emory’s Woodruff and Oxford Libraries and is available as an ebook online to all Emory patrons, as well as an audio book for all Emory patrons.
Next, Spencer mentions his pandemic re-reading of a technology novel that relates to his work at Pitts, Robin Sloan’s Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. He writes, “
This quirky mystery weaves together techno-wizardry and bookselling in a twisting tale that will appeal to readers and nerds of every kind. Published in 2012, it made the rounds in the digital humanities community, which loved the focus on old and new technologies working together. Rereading it this past year, I was again surprised by how much I enjoyed this intriguing story about a 24-hour bookstore and the mysteries it contains.” You can find this book in print at Emory’s Woodruff Library, and it is available online for all Emory patrons.
We hope you enjoy Spencer’s recommendations. Check in next week for more of our favorite resources! Looking for more recommendations? All summer reading blog posts are archived at pitts.emory.edu/blog.
For the 2021 Pitts Summer Reading Blog, Pitts took to the hallways
of the Candler School of Theology building in search of “the best resource you discovered during quarantine.” This week, the fourth in our series, we spoke to Dr. Greg C. Ellison, II, Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Candler. Dr. Ellison is the editor of the recently-released Anchored in the Current: Discovering Howard Thurman as Educator, Activist, Guide, and Prophet (Westminster/John Knox, 2020). 
The book is available online to Emory patrons.
When asked about what reading has been important to him during the pandemic, Dr. Ellison writes, “One of the greatest finds over the past 24 months has been the works of Zimbabwean poet and fellow Atlantan Billy Chapata. I have gifted over a dozen copies of his book Chameleon Aura.” 
Ellison summarizes, “Chapata is like a modern day desert father and will be a healing presence to all who sit with his timeless words.” You can learn about Chapata and experience some of this poetry at https://www.iambrillyant.com or on Chapata’s Twitter feed. Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Ellison has continued to learn from Chapata. He adds, “I recently was gifted a copy of his newest book, Flowers on the Moon. It is phenomenal!” 
We thank Dr. Ellison for these recommendations, and we hope you will look into the exciting work he is doing at Candler and at Emory. Recently he played a leading role on Emory’s Task Force on Untold Stories and Disenfranchised Populations. The work of that task force has prompted many changes at Emory, recently announced by Emory’s President Gregory L. Fenves.
We hope you enjoyed this week’s recommendations. Check in next week for more of our favorite resources! Looking for more recommendations? All summer reading blog posts are archived at pitts.emory.edu/blog.
For the second week of 2021 Pitts Summer Reading Blog, Pitts took to the hallways of the Candler School of Theology building in search of “the best resource you discovered during quarantine.”
This week we spoke to Dr. Jehu Hanciles, the D.W. and Ruth Brooks Professor of World Christianity and the Director of the World Christianity Program at Candler.
His latest book, published this past March, is entitled Migration and the Making of Global Christianity. 
One review des
cribed Hanciles’ latest work as, “An impressive work of historical scholarship. No book has shown more convincingly how Christianity in its first fifteen hundred years spread throughout the globe thanks to migrations.” We agree, and we consider ourselves lucky to have him at Candler! Dr. Hanciles’ first reading recommendation is Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States. The authors, Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry, unpack the phenomenon of Christian Nationalism, which they consider “one of the most important and least understood forces” shaping American thought and politics. Covering issues ranging from immigration, gun control, gender roles, and the presidency, this book is a guide to understanding Christian Nationalism in the American political landscape.
If this interests you, you’re in luck, as we have recently acquired this book at Pitts! Dr. Hanciles’ second recommendation is Americanah: A Novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and New York Times Book Review’s “Ten Best Books of 2013.” 
Chimamanda’s website describes the novel –which is translated in 29 languages– as a “tender story of race and identity.” Among her long list of award-winning publications, she counts her record-breaking TED Talk from 2009 as one of her accomplishments. Her talk titled “The Danger of a Single Story,” is now one of the most-viewed TED Talks of all time.
We hope you enjoyed this week’s recommendations. Check in next week for more of our favorite resources! Looking for more recommendations? All summer reading blog posts are archived at pitts.emory.edu/blog.
