BETH – European Theological Libraries

In 1957, at the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Katholisch-Theologischer Bibliotheken, some librarians gathered in Frankfurt and created the outline for an association which prefigured what was to become BETH. These librarians, Father Luchesius Smits (VKSB, Vereniging voor Seminarie- en Kloosterbibliothecarissen, The Netherlands), Father Francis Courtney (ABTAPL, United Kingdom), and Father Paul Mech (Association des bibliothèques de sciences religieuses, France), in the spirit of reconstruction and reconciliation that was characteristic for the period after the WW II,[1] wanted to contribute to the growth of the Christian faith by developing exchange between libraries specialized in religious studies. They considered it necessary to improve the professional level of the librarians, to work on international bibliographies and to work together for their common objectives. As for this, one can quote Johan van Wyngaerden who comments the work of the founders of the Dutch association VSKB as follows: "They considered it as and apostolic mission not just to take responsibility of the conservation of the valuable collections of the books of the seminaries and monasteries, but also to make them available for wider audience."[2]

It was in Frankfurt, however, on 18 October 1961 that the International Committee for the Coordination of Catholic Theological Library Associations (le Comité international de coordination des associations de bibliothèques de théologie catholique) was established when librarians from Germany, France and the Netherlands met at a meeting of German librarians. This committee had a rather informal structure. After some ten years, the members decided to create a formal association. In 1970, the ‘Committee’ became the International Council of Theological Library Associations (le Conseil international des associations de bibliothèques de théologie) when it had grown to include a number of national associations. The statutes of the new association were adopted in a meeting held in 26 September 1973, and they received royal approval in the Netherlands. The secretarial office of the association was in Nijmegen. During the following years, several national associations joined the council, which, in turn, joined IFLA (1971-1986). From 1961 to 1999 several collaborative publications testify to the enterprising activities of the Council: Scripta recenter edita, which is a current bibliographies of philosophical and theological works, was published from 1950 to 1973, and Bibliographia ad usum seminariorum, a selection of the necessary tools for theological studies (liturgical, missiological, ecumenical) from 1959 to 1965.

Very soon after its creation, the International Council of Theological Library Associations began to publish a listing science of religion periodicals, both active and terminated ones, that were in collections of its member libraries. The members of the national associations made a thorough survey of the libraries of their country to clarify the history of each title, and then these files were circulated among the other members who could supplement, correct and localize the data. This effort that was started back in the 1960’s was laborious and took a long time. Out of this work emerged only one single publication, Clavis foliorum periodicorum : Benelux, which covered the periodicals in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg and was published in 1994 by Peeters. Carried on more or less effectively in the different member countries, this project was definitely finished in the beginning of the 2000s at the same time when the old catalogues were digitized and new digital catalogues were created. Although the project was halted in its initial stage, it provided the national associations with a tool that could be used by their member libraries.

In 1999, the Council, in order to emphasize the specifically European character of its activities, changed the name of the association into BETH : Bibliothèques Européennes de Théologie / European Theological Libraries / Europäische Bibliotheken für Theologie, equipped with a website (www.beth.be) that has been administrated by the Leuven Catholic University (KULeuven).

BETH, supported by the national organizations and the exceptionally rich heritage of the libraries involved, organizes a conference each year. Libraries from all areas of Europe (and their native languages) are welcome in the association, although communications among the membership are principally conducted in English. BETH assists its members in forming consortia for obtaining access to databases and distributes throughout the year any information concerning exhibitions, symposia [3] other current digitalisation projects.

Association logo

In Hebrew, Beth ב is the second letter of the alphabet and the first letter found when opening the Biblical text, the word Bereschit (in the beginning). The word BETH conveys the idea of a house, dwelling, building.

In 2008, an Hungarian artist designed the logo of the association, which expresses the tradition of study and of the lectio divina set on a lectern, as well as the contemporary librarian’s job with the keys of a keyboard on which we see the letters of the acronym of the association.

• ABCF: Association des Bibliothèques Chrétiennes de France – France
• ABEI: Associazione dei Bibliotecari Ecclesiastici Italiani – Italy
• ABIE: Asociación de Bibliotecarios de la Iglesia en España – Spain
• ABTAPL: Association of British Theological and Philosophical Libraries – the United Kingdom and Ireland[4]
• AKThB: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Katholisch-Theologischer Bibliotheken – Germany
• BibRel.ch: Verein der BibliothekarInnen religionsbezogener Institutionen der Schweiz / Association des bibliothécaires du domaine religieux en Suisse – Switzerland
• EKE: Egyházy Könyvtárak Egyesülése – Hungary
• FIDES: Federation of the Polish Ecclesiastical Libraries – Poland
• FTLA: Finnish Theological Library Association Finland
• FTRB: Forum for Teologiske og Religionsfaglige Bibliotek – Norway
• URBE: Unione Romana Biblioteche Ecclesiastiche – Italy
• VkwB: Verband kirchlich-wissenschaftlicher Bibliotheken in der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Archive und Bibliotheken in der evangelischen Kirche (AABevK) – Germany
• VRB: Expertisehouders Levensbeschouwelijke Collecties – Belgium
• VTB: Vereniging voor het Theologisch Bibliothecariaat – The Netherlands

Extraordinary members include the following libraries:

• Biblijski Institut in Zagreb - Croatia
• BNU: Bibliothèque nationale universitaire de Strasbourg- France
• Pentecostal Institute in Romania
• Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen / Index Theologicus (IxTheo) – Germany

• Official website