JANICE PAINE reports on a visit by CLIS members on Saturday 17 October 2015

Sarum College is an ecumenical theological college situated in Salisbury’s beautiful cathedral close. The Librarian Jayne Downey was our host on this Saturday morning, and explained the history of the college, which since its foundation in 1860 has had various merges and changes in the type of courses offered. It now provides mainly Anglican ministerial training for about one hundred full or part-time students, plus another one hundred and twenty students on four three-year MA courses. The site includes a Victorian chapel, a public bookshop (with second  hand department), Bed and Breakfast accommodation, and of course a substantial library of about forty-two thousand  books.

As well as providing material for the on-site courses, Jayne (with the help of seven volunteers) provides for external paying users such as local ministers, Moorlands Bible College students, and visits from two   local schools. The library is housed in a recently refurbished extension to the main Georgian building – we loved the comforting red carpet! – and there is an additional stack area for eleven thousand  pre-1900 works. A sample of the oldest works was displayed for us, including a 1545 Bible. There are about forty journal titles, and a strong liturgical and church music resource.

The service has many up to date facilities including the Heritage on-line catalogue, some on-line resources including e-journals and the American Theological Library Association  Religion Database, access to the University of Durham e-resources. Inter-library loans and postal loans are also available.

Website address: www.sarum.ac.uk/library

Many thanks to Jayne and the college for their hospitality, including a delicious lunch!

Janice E.  Paine, MCLIP, serves on the executive committee of  Christians in Library and Information Services  as Membership Secretary.