The Princeton Theological Seminary Library strengthens teaching, inspires learning, broadens access, fosters research, embraces change, and preserves and advances knowledge.
The Princeton Theological Seminary Library serves Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton University, and wider communities of students, pastors, and scholars. Shaped by two centuries of development, the Library embraces its role at the intersection of the theological record and the community of scholars, continues Princeton's commitment to build collections of depth, and promotes an environment of broad access to the theological heritage. Primary sources are represented both by original early editions or reprints and by modern critical editions.
In addition to circulating and periodical collections, the Library contains the Reigner Reading Room, which houses educational materials and religious curriculum materials to support church ministry; Special Collections, including the Karl Barth research collection and the Abraham Kuyper collection of Dutch Reformed Protestantism; and a growing number of Digital Collections, including the Theological Commons.
These facilities offer substantial resources for theological study and research at all levels. Among the collections are valuable portions of the libraries of Dr. Ashbel Green, Professor John Breckenridge, Dr. William Buell Sprague, Mr. Samuel Agnew, Professor J. Addison Alexander, Dr. John M. Krebs, Dr. Alexander Balloch Grosart, Professor William Henry Green, Professor Samuel Miller, Professor Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, Mr. James Tanis, and Dr. Louis F. Benson. The library complex currently receives about 2,100 journals, annual reports of church bodies and learned societies, bulletins, transactions, and periodically issued indices, abstracts, and bibliographies.
A series of policies governing the use of our collections allows us to balance accessibility with accountability. Most of the two dozen library staff members work behind the scenes to acquire, describe, and provide access to the content of these collections.
See also — Visiting the Library