The ULS Library will have a phased reopening process. The date the Library enters Phase 1 has yet to be finalized, but will likely be a few weeks after faculty and staff can begin working from their offices again.
While some employees will be returning to campus on July 6, the Library will not be opening until heating, ventilation, and air conditioning issues are resolved on a date to be determined.
In order to protect the staff and community, both ULS Library branches will be closing completely, beginning March 19. The Library and the COVID-19 Response Team will reassess the situation and any further cancellations or reductions in hours will be posted to the library calendar. After hours access to the Wentz Library is also being turned off. In order to greater assist the community during this period, the library will be instituting a number of policies and pracrtices. This information will be available on the Library website here, with more information coming in the following days.
Please also regularly check the Seminary's COVID-19 Update Page for complete information on ULS's response to COVID-19.
Beginning on a date yet to be determined, under phase one, the Library will be open on a limited basis, with the following restrictions:
- The library will be open on Monday through Friday from 10:00am - 3:00pm.
- Only 10 patrons at a time will be admitted and only by pre-established (24 hour notice) appointments (weblink coming once Phase 1 date is announced).
- Face coverings/masks will be required and social distancing followed.
- Only current students, faculty, and staff will be able to make appointments.
- Computers, photocopiers, and scanners will not be available for use at this time.
- Community borrowers will not be allowed on site at this time. Community borrowers will be eligible for home delivery and article scanning requests.
Beginning on a date yet to be determined, under phase two, the Library will be open with the following restrictions:
- More patrons will be allowed in the building at a time and pre-scheduled appointments will no longer be necessary. Hours may still be limited but have not yet been determined.
- Face coverings/masks will be required and social distancing followed.
- Only current students, faculty, and staff will be allowed entry.
- Computers, photocopiers, and scanners may be available but will be spread out throughout the buildings.
- Gettysburg Archives will be limited to faculty, staff, and students of ULS and Gettysburg College; external research requests will not be filled.
- Community borrowers will continue to have access to home delivery and article requests scanning services.
Beginning on a date yet to be determined, under phase three, the Library will be open with the following restrictions:
- More patrons will be allowed in the building. Hours may still be limited but have not yet been determined.
- Face coverings/masks will be required and posted social distancing rules followed.
- Library will be open to the general public.
- Computers, photocopiers, and scanners will be available and remain spread out throughout the buildings.
- Gettysburg Archives will reopen to the public, however only by appointment (no walk-ins).
- Community borrowers will continue to have access to home delivery and article request scanning services.
In order to greater assist students during this period, the library will be setting up 1-hour drop-in sessions on Zoom and Skype for Business as well as several large group Zoom instruction sessions on library research from a distance. Now that we've entered summer, email us at library@uls.edu and we can schedule a one-on-one tutorial.
The ULS Library will be holding two Zoom sessions for basic library instruction for distance users. Zoom links will be added as they are made available. Currently, these sessions will be held:
- Monday, March 23 at 3 p.m.
- Monday, March 23 at 7 p.m.
- More dates and times will appear once students suggest preferred dates/times.
While our inital intent was to continue to provide print services through the mail, we are complying with Gov. Tom Wolf's directive March 19 that all “non-life-sustaining businesses in Pennsylvania” must close “physical locations” in order to slow the spread of coronavirus. Therefore, we will be unable to provide the delivery of print materials through the mail and scanning services will no longer be available until this directive is lifted.
Because the library’s course reserves are intended to be available at students’ convenience rather than as a replacement for students’ purchase of learning materials, course reserve material will not be mailed to students.
- Worship Resources: Contact the Library staff for student access to Sundays and Seasons for classroom-related needs.
- Bibles: The Library will not scan portions of study bibles at this time. Please see the Library’s Biblical Studies Guide and Oxford Biblical Studies Online , which includes both the New Oxford Annotated Bible and The JPS Study Bible.
Many libraries have already turned off their interlibrary loan delivery of print material. We will do our best to get students, faculty, and staff scans of chapters or articles not available elsewhere. Please use this form to make ILL requests or make them directly inside of WorldCat Discovery (All Content) .
The Writing Center will continue to be available to students via phone, email, and Zoom video conference. Check the Writing Center home page for more information. Check the library calendar for hours of online drop-in sessions.
Krauth Memorial Branch
7301 Germantown Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19119
215-248-6329
Wentz Memorial Branch
66 Seminary Ridge
Gettysburg, PA 17325
717-338-3014
library@uls.edu
7301 Germantown Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19119
215-248-6329
Wentz Memorial Branch
66 Seminary Ridge
Gettysburg, PA 17325
717-338-3014
library@uls.edu
Many publishers and vendors, in response to the current pandemic, are providing academic institutions free access to an expanded set of their materials. The library staff will attempt to include as many of those resources here so that students can have access to as many resources as possible to assist our researchers.
Project Muse, whom the library already purchases material from, has worked with many of its publishers (including Liturgical Press) to open up 10,000+ ebooks and 150+ journals for your use. with most available "for a period of three months." To make sure you can see both the free content and content the library has purchased for you, follow this link:
The Globethics.net Library is a free, open online library aimed at providing quality resources on applied ethics, education and religious studies from all over the world. Content in the library is available in multiple languages and is harvested from more than 3,000 open access repositories. There thematic and institutional collections that have been developed with experts and partners, and documents are uploaded by individual Globethics.net participants, making the library a unique resource for students, researchers and for all those interested in deepening their knowledge.
- Globethics.net Library from WCC ; free registration required.
JSTOR is bringing expanded access to much of its journal archives and at least 25,000 ebooks to authorized institutional users. The Library has joined this program, through August 31, 2020 for ebooks and December 31, 2020 for journals. Sign in as you normally would for JSTOR access here:
HeinOnline Academic includes more than 100 million pages of multidisciplinary content in more than 100 subject areas, including history, political science, criminal justice, religious studies, international relations, women’s studies, pre-law, and many more. With more historical content than any other database, HeinOnline provides access to 300+ years of information on political development and the complete history of the creation of government and legal systems around the world. Among the many databases included, HeinOnline’s journal collection features nearly 2,800 periodicals relating to a variety of subject areas, with all coverage dating from inception to the most currently published issues in most cases. William S. Hein & Co. is offering us a free subscription through the end of the Fall term.
OSU Press is opening up 699 ebooks for free use until the end of the current crisis. Please follow this link to access:
Universtity of Michigan is opening all of its titles to fre-to-read online until August 31, 2020. Follow this link to access:
"In recognition of the impact of coronavirus on campus instruction and the rise of unplanned distance learning, University of California Press is pleased to make all of our online journals content free to all through June 30, 2020." This appears to have been extended but it is not entirely clear until when.