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Explore Your Resources at Harding University Graduate School of Religion

Since the educational purpose of the institution determines the character of the library, L.M. Graves Memorial Library quite naturally reflects the curriculum of the Graduate School. In addition to its teaching function, the library seeks to meet basic research needs of the faculty and students. The online catalog can be accessed at http://quest.harding.edu:8001/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First.

The administration, faculty and the library staff combine their efforts to build a quality collection of religious literature. The library’s 132,000 volumes offer an extensive collection of resources in biblical studies, including Hebrew and Greek manuscripts; English versions; important critical editions of the Greek New Testament; facsimiles and critical editions of the Dead Sea Scrolls; a large collection of materials on the Greek and Hebrew languages; and substantial holdings of older and recent commentaries and monographs, many in French and German, reflecting scholarly and critical study of the biblical text. Complementing these materials is a significant collection of resources on the ancient Near East and the Graeco-Roman world, which includes critical editions of important works and collections of original resources, such as papyri and inscriptions of both old and recent excavation reports from sites throughout the ancient Near East.

The collection also includes hundreds of Restoration Movement books, periodicals, pamphlets, debates, hymnals, histories, lectureships and scholarly studies, as well as thousands of reports reflecting the missionary history of the churches of Christ. The library also has large collections in church history, theology, church growth, missions, spiritual leadership, preaching/homiletics, congregational ministry, worship, apologetics, Christian education, and marriage and family therapy.

The 615 periodicals and annuals received from at least 33 countries, including several from the Third World, represent a wide range of confessional diversity and theological perspectives. The 24,000-volume periodical collection contains very few gaps. Providing access to these journals are all the major indexing and abstracting tools in theological studies in print and electronic format.

The library’s annual budget is supplemented each year by proceeds from two endowment funds. The P.G. and Anna E. Lewis Memorial Library Fund, established in 1975 by Dr. Jack P. Lewis in honor of his parents, now exceeds $340,000. The Mount Pleasant Church of Christ Electronic Library Endowment Fund was established in 1999 by the Mount Pleasant Church of Christ in Wilmington, Del. This $40,000 fund provides means for the library to expand the electronic resources available to its users, such as CD-ROM indexes to scholarly literature.

The library is an associate member of the Southeastern Library Network; participates in cooperative programs with academic and theological libraries in the city and the state; and holds membership in the Memphis Area Library Council, the Tennessee Theological Library Association and the American Theological Library Association. The library staff provides indexing for the Restoration Serials Index.

Students should consult the Handbook for a detailed statement on library policies and regulations.