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450 College & Research Libraries September 2002

The Ownership of Religious Texts by Academic Libraries

Matthew Harris and Gregory A. Crawford

This study examined the ownership of religious texts within academic libraries that were members of the Associated College Libraries of Cen- tral Pennsylvania (ACLCP). Texts from the Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Morman, Ba’hai, Christian Scientist, , and Satanic were included. The ACLCP Union Catalog was searched to find ownership of the specific texts in both English and their original languages. The results showed that most of the texts in English were indeed owned by the libraries included in the study, whereas the texts in their original languages were generally not owned. Due to the growing religious diversity of the students, faculty, staff, and community users of these libraries, ownership of religious texts has become more important in order to serve these individuals more fully.

ibraries have as their primary which version to collect. This would be a mission the provision of infor- simple problem except that not everyone mation to their patrons and uses The Holy as his or her main reli- users. Although this sounds gious reference. Even certain sects of easy, there are some roadblocks. The most prefer different versions. obvious roadblock is money; without it As of late, there has been a growing nothing can be bought. Beyond this mon- awareness of religious diversity. People etary limitation, however, there are other would not be surprised if you were to factors that lead to a lack of resources. In discuss aspects of or the basic collection development, a library tries to tenants of Islamic . The has provide the patron with the best, most become a global village with many dif- recent, and most accurate reference ma- ferent views on . An integration terials. But what happens when the and acceptance on this scale is a great step source the patron wants has not changed toward true diversity, and knowledge in the past two thousand years but is provided by the library in the form of re- available in many different versions? sources is a needed building block. Take, for instance, The Holy Bible, a work Creating a balanced collection in reli- fitting the aforementioned description. gion can be a daunting challenge. For most Many different versions are available in libraries, the overall goal of their collec- numerous languages, including the King tion development is to provide a well- James Version and the Revised Standard rounded and balanced view of religion. Version, which make it difficult to decide Although this sounds easy, it should be

Matthew Harris is Adjunct Faculty at Harrisburg Area Community College; e-mail: [email protected]. Gregory A. Crawford is Head of Public Services in the Library at Penn State Harrisburg; e-mail: [email protected].

450 The Ownership of Religious Texts by Academic Libraries 451 remembered that religion has caused wars After the events of September 11, this and is still causing conflict around the research took on new meaning. As world simply because of different spiritual America faced its greatest modern trag- viewpoints. Some basic ideas that should edy, people were seeking answers. They be discussed in religion collection build- turned to their local libraries as a resource ing are which are going to be rep- for understanding a religion that has been resented, how not to focus on a single reli- misunderstood or overlooked by many gion in favor of others, what is going to be Americans before it was thrust into the used the most, and what are the seminal spotlight. The authors of this study hope that their research can provide a starting Creating a balanced collection in block for a reevaluation of religious col- religion can be a daunting challenge. . Knowledge remains the most important way to understand and in- works in minority religions that should be crease tolerance. owned. In an article by Susan Avallone, a survey was provided to public libraries Review dealing with many of the collection devel- Upon searching for literature that would opment questions involving religious ma- pertain to this subject, there was little that terials. In response to one question, a li- directly reflected the proposed research. brarian commented, “We don’t have a Most of the literature dealing with reli- need to include all religions … we don’t gion and libraries did not directly discuss exclude any either.”1 This general state- collection development of primary reli- ment seems to be the every librar- gious texts. In fact, almost every article ian says right before he or she decides was aimed toward Christianity and not whether to buy a work such as The Satanic other world religions. For example, A Bible by Anton LaVey. Inevitably, someone Basic Booklist for Church Libraries by Ber- will feel slighted by any choice a librarian nard E Deitrick was simply a list of rec- makes when deciding which religious ommendations for inclusion in church li- texts to buy. What, then, should be the de- braries.2 Besides a more detailed termining factors in religious collection de- explanation of particular books, this was velopment? a representative case of what most of the The intention of this study was to find literature contained. James Michael Lee’s out what religious texts were being col- article, “The Library and Religious Edu- lected in academic libraries, what deter- cation,” was a more esoteric look at what mines a balanced collection, and which literature should be used to teach religion minor or obscure religions were being in- at parish and Catholic schools and what cluded in collections. The first step was to reference materials those schools’ librar- evaluate local academic library holdings to ies should contain.3 see whether the major religious texts were One theme that recurs in the literature represented. Beyond this, the authors also is that of handling donations of books on wanted to explore which versions were religious topics. Although this does have collected of specific texts and also what impact on the collection of religious ma- obscure references were collected; by this, terials, many of the articles deal with re- the authors included the texts of several ligious works that were not part of the fringe and minority religions in the United core religious texts used in this study. An States. By comparison, current religious sta- example would be a book such as The Bible tistics were used as a way to gauge church Speaks to You by Robert McAfee Brown population as a reason for overabundance instead of The Holy Bible. Chris Kertesz, or lack of some of the texts. More difficult in “The Unwanted Gift: When Saying ‘No to correlate would be actual shown Thanks’ Isn’t Enough,” provided insight for each religion in the libraries because sta- into why some books are rejected or ac- tistics of this sort do not exist. cepted.4 Kertesz pointed out that contro- 452 College & Research Libraries September 2002 versy such as versus creation- This statement supports the reason the ism usually led to acceptance or denial authors of this study chose to look at other for inclusion. It is noted that library policy religious works in addition to The Holy usually sets the groundwork for avoid- Bible. Perhaps it is just this simple swing ing such controversy. Again, this article of curiosity that has led to a renewed in- discussed only literature that is related to terest in all religious works. Besides religion, not the texts themselves. There chronicling one reference librarian’s en- was no mention of policies that set limits counter with the new religious question- on what core religious texts should be ing, the article gave advice for dealing accepted or rejected. with this phenomenon. Goucker stated In “Receptivity to Religion” by that “A sensitive, open, nonjudgmental Avallone, a mini-survey was sent to thirty attitude is essential for librarians dealing public libraries across the nation. This with people who hold strong religious survey posed questions such as, “Do li- beliefs.”7 He continued, “it is important braries regularly buy popular inspira- that we do not let personal prejudices or tional and religious books for their col- possibly even religious misconceptions lections?” and “Do libraries attempt to interfere with our ability to take seriously collect materials to ‘balance’ their book and meet the information needs of people collections on such issues as the scientific holding those views.”8 theory of evolution against the funda- This resonates with the topic of the cur- mentalist theory of creation, or view- rent research. It is important to look at ev- points favoring freedom of choice for erything with an open mind. Even though abortion with those called ‘pro-life’?”5 there is currently a lack of supporting lit- This article provided real-life answers to erature on this topic, it is plausible to pre- questions posed by the previous articles. dict that as more reference librarians are It also showed the attitudes toward reli- confronted with questions about different gious works by selected public libraries. religions, more literature will be written. Although interesting, here again no dis- And as a more diverse population seeks tinction was made between core religious religious materials representative of their texts and companion works. It was taken own spiritual path, it will be important to for granted that libraries would own core include literature in our libraries that re- works. Assumptions such as this tend to flect this multiculturalism. Even current be Christian-centric and overlook other political climates provide more than non-Christian core works. enough motivation for libraries to recon- An article by Gouker, “ Is sider their religious collection. Alive and Well At the Reference Desk,” may help us understand the reason for Methodology searching out religious core works other For many religions, determining their than The Holy Bible and possibly why it is or holy texts is immediately ap- important to even discuss different ver- parent. For example, Christians maintain sions of those core works. Gouker com- that The Holy Bible is the “word of God,” mented: whereas make their claim for The After decades of seemingly light inter- Holy Koran. Other religions, especially est in religious matters, many American those originating in India, have many re- library users are once again turning to ligious texts. For this research, the authors God, and searching for religious informa- used sources such as The Encyclopedia of tion. In seeking answers, people have Religion, Harper’s Dictionary of , approached a variety of sources, includ- Guide to Buddhist Religion, and others to ing mainstream Christian churches, Juda- determine which works to use as the ba- ism, non-Western religious traditions, sis of this research.9–11 Figure 1 provides fringe groups or cults, and conservative the final listing of religious texts included or fundamentalist Christian churches.6 in the study. The Ownership of Religious Texts by Academic Libraries 453

To those unfamiliar with some of the FIGURE 1 works, a brief explanation of each is in or- der. The Holy Bible of the Christian churches Religious Texts Used in This Study has many various versions. Four of the Bible: King James more widely known versions were chosen Bible: Revised Standard for this study. The was Bible: Jerusalem the main English until the mid- Bible: New English twentieth century. The Revised Standard Koran or Qur-an Version is an American revision based on Bhagavad-gita the Authorized Version. This version elimi- Veda nates some archaic phraseology but at- Tanakh tempts to keep close to the words of the Bhagavad-gita: Sanskrit original text. The Jerusalem Bible is an Koran: Arabic English version of a French Catholic trans- Veda: Sanskrit lation that uses “” instead of Tanakh: Hebrew “.” Finally, the New English Version Tripitaka is a translation done in the early 1980s. To Tripitaka Sutra: Sanskrit more clearly deviate between works, only Tripitaka Sutra: Chinese whole primary works were included in this study. Therefore, works containing Book of only part of the primary religious texts, just Satanic Bible the , for example, were not Science and Health with Key to the included. For the Hebrew faith, the authors Scriptures chose the Tanakh because it contains the Kitab-i-aqdas whole of the Hebrew scriptures that en- compass the , Nevi’im, and . The Holy Koran, or , is the main Mus- Another aspect of this research was the lim believed to be the word provision of sacred texts in their original of Allah revealed to . The languages for those individuals who were Bhagavad-gita and the Veda are among the affiliated with that religious tradition. primary Hindu works, whereas the However, the authors realize that many Tripitaka Sutra is the general work for Bud- followers of a religion may not be able to dhism. The authors also looked to other read the sacred texts in the original lan- religions for primary works that may not guage (e.g., Arabic for the Holy Koran), but be included in the main religions but none- only in their native tongue (e.g., Urdu). For theless are important. The this research, seeking out all possible trans- was revealed to Joseph Smith by the lations proved to be daunting. Thus, in Moroni and has been the basis for Mor- addition to searching for holdings in En- ever since. Dianetics, written by glish, the authors also wished to determine L. Ron Hubbard, is the basis for the reli- holdings in the language in which the gious philosophy of Scientology, and Sci- works originally appeared. For example, ence and Health with Key to the Scriptures, in addition to the Jewish version of the Old by , is the basis for the Testament, the Tanakh, in English, the au- healing aspect of . The thors also searched for it in Hebrew. For Kitab-I-aqdas is the primary work for the the Holy Koran, the authors looked for Ara- Baha’i faith; and The Satanic Bible, by Anton bic versions. For the various Hindu and LaVey, is used as a religious text by those , the authors searched for who practice . On a side note, Sanskrit and/or Chinese versions. Satanism according to LaVey, is not the To determine ownership of these reli- in Satan but, rather, the belief in in- gious texts by a selected group of academic dulging in the pleasures of the world to libraries within central Pennsylvania, the their fullest extent. Union Catalog of libraries that were mem- 454 College & Research Libraries September 2002

James, Revised Standard, Jerusalem, and FIGURE 2 New English—every library, except two, Academic and Research owned every version. The Dickinson School Libraries Represented in the of failed to own any of the specified ACLCP Union Catalog versions, whereas Penn College of Technol- ogy owned only the King James and Jerusa- Albright College lem versions. Every library owned the Holy Alvernia College Koran, whereas the Bhagavad-Gita was miss- Bucknell University ing only from the Dickinson School of Law. Dickinson College Ownership numbers fell from there, with Dickinson School of Law only 55 percent of the libraries owning a Elizabethtown College version of the Veda, 50 percent owning the Franklin and Marshall Tripitaka Sutra, and only 25 percent owning Gettysburg College the Tanakh. Part of the reason for some of HACC the lower ownership numbers is that this Juniata College study only looked at complete collections— Kutztown University for example, looking at The Holy Bible and Lebanon Valley College not the New Testament or looking at the Lycoming College Tanakh and not the Torah holdings. Messiah College The authors also researched deeper to Millersville University Penn College of Tech discover whether any libraries owned Penn State Harrisburg original-language versions of each of the Shippensburg University texts. The Holy Koran in Arabic had the Susquehanna University most ownership, with nine libraries in- York College cluding it in their holdings. The Sanskrit version of the Bhagavad-Gita was owned by three libraries, and the Sanskrit ver- bers of the Associated College Libraries of sion of the was owned by only one Central Pennsylvania (ACLCP) was library. The Tanakh in Hebrew was owned searched for each individual title. The by one library. Finally, three libraries ACLCP Union Catalog represents the owned both the Sanskrit and Chinese holdings of twenty academic and research versions of the Tripitaka Sutra. libraries (figure 2). Of these, thirteen are This study also included other minor- private colleges or universities and seven ity, if not fringe, religions that have a main are public institutions, including the State text on which they base their teachings. Library of Pennsylvania. At the time of the The two most-owned works were The study, the smallest collection numbered Book of Mormon and Science and Health with approximately 86,000 volumes (Alvernia Key to the Scriptures, which is the primary College) and the largest numbered 987,000 text for Christian Science. Each work was (State Library of Pennsylvania). The aver- owned by eighteen of the twenty librar- age number of volumes held by these li- ies. The next largest holding was braries was approximately 250,000. Dianetics, the basis for Scientology, which Upon searching the Union Catalog, the was owned by fourteen libraries. Eight total number of libraries owning a copy libraries owned the Kitab-i-aqdas by of each work was recorded, as was the Baha’U’llah of the Bahai faith, whereas language (English and/or other original only three libraries owned The Satanic language) of the work. Table 1 shows the Bible. findings of the study. Moreover, various religious population studies were researched in an attempt to Results justify the reasoning behind the ownership The results were somewhat unexpected. Of statistics. Table 2 shows church popula- the four versions of The Holy Bible— King tions in the United States from 1950 to 2000 The Ownership of Religious Texts by Academic Libraries 455 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 anakh T 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 eda V 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 gita Bhagavad- -an 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 exts Qur Koran T or 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 Bible: New English ABLE 1 T 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Bible: Jerusalem of Libraries Owning Religious tandard 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 otal Number Bible: T Revised S 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Bible: King James g ech T g University alley College g College V tate Harrisbur ork College ycoming College Albright College Alvernia College Bucknell University Dickinson College Dickinson School of Law Elizabethtown College Franklin and Marshall HACC Gettysbur Juniata College Kutztown University Lebanon L Messiah College Millersville University Penn College of Penn S Susquehanna University Shippensbur Y 456 College & Research Libraries September 2002 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 ripitaka T Sutra: Chinese 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 ripitaka T Sutra: Sanskrit 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 exts Sutra ripitaka T T ) ew 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 anakh: Hebr T continued 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 eda: V ABLE 1 ( Sanskrit T of Libraries Owning Religious 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 otal Number Arabic Koran: T 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Sanskrit Bhagavad-gita: g ech T g University alley College g College V tate Harrisbur ork College ycoming College Alvernia College Bucknell University Dickinson College Dickinson School of Law Elizabethtown College Franklin and Marshall Gettysbur Albright College HACC Juniata College Kutztown University Lebanon L Messiah College Millersville University Penn College of Penn S Shippensbur Susquehanna University Y The Ownership of Religious Texts by Academic Libraries 457 with major faiths represented, although denominations. Even though the minor- some of the faiths have only recently been ity religions have not reached the Roman reported. As the table shows, the Church’s lofty population num- has seen a 145 percent bers, an increase could explain why some increase in church population since 1950, religious texts are being included in more whereas Buddhism has seen a 401 percent libraries. increase since only 1980. Such trends show Table 2 shows that type of trend. Even that minority religions are growing at a though the percentage for people report- more rapid rate than established Christian ing other religious faiths and no religious 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 Kitab-i-aqdas es 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 Scriptur exts with Key to the T Science and Health ) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Satanic Bible continued 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 ABLE 1 ( T of Libraries Owning Religious Book of Mormon 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 otal Number T Dianetics g ech T g University alley College g College V tate Harrisbur ork College ycoming College Susquehanna University Y Shippensbur Penn S L Messiah College Millersville University Penn College of HACC Juniata College Kutztown University Lebanon Albright College Alvernia College Bucknell University Dickinson College Dickinson School of Law Elizabethtown College Franklin and Marshall Gettysbur 458 College & Research Libraries September 2002

TABLE 2 Church Populations in the U.S., 1950–2000

(based on 1,000) 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Buddhist N/L N/L N/L 60 100 401 Hindu N/L N/L N/L N/L N/L 227 Jehovah’s Witness N/L 227 334 519 773 1,040 Jewish 4,641 5,500 5,780 5,781 5,944 6,041 Muslim / Islamic N/L N/L N/L N/L N/L 527 Roman Catholic 25,286 39,510 47,873 4,602 53,497 62,018 Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints 1,815 1,395 2,180 2,952 4,000 4,923 faiths is small, it has increased. This could terest shown in them? From this study, it also explain the possible inclusion of works does seem that equality and nonbiased such as Dianetics in library collections. decision making has given these librar- ies a balance of religious works. Discussion/Implications After the tragedy of September 11, this This research provided fewer surprises research took on new meaning. What had than the authors had envisioned. What been viewed simply as a study of owner- the authors thought would be a lack of ship became an open door for discussion. diversity ended up being acceptable di- Knowledge is the key to understanding versity. Libraries had many of the texts and, therefore, people want to understand the authors were searching and even in- the rhetoric being passed around about cluded other uncommon works such as the Taliban and its religious basis and Dianetics. This bodes well for many librar- about . From this study, what was a ies, as the religious makeup of the United surprise of diversity translates to the abil- States is becoming more diverse. Again, ity to provide the information these the question remains, Are these libraries people are seeking. If anything comes attempting to equally represent each re- from these inquiries, it will be due to the ligion, or are they in the mind-set that libraries being able to provide the vital they only own works that have had in- information.

Notes 1. Susan Avallone, “Receptivity to Religion,” Library Journal 109 (Oct. 15, 1994): 1892. 2. Bernard E. Deitrick, A Basic Book List for Church Libraries (1988). ERIC ED 314 066. 3. James Michael Lee, “The Library and ,” Catholic Library World 53 (May– June 1982): 440–43. 4. Chris Kertesz, “The Unwanted Gift: When Saying ‘No Thanks’ Isn’t Enough,” American Libraries 32 (Mar. 2001): 34–36. 5. Avallone, “Receptivity to Religion,” 1891. 6. David Gouker, “God Is Alive and Well at the Reference Desk,” American Libraries 18 (May 1987): 342. 7. Ibid., 342. 8. Ibid. 9. Mircea Eliade, ed., The Encyclopedia of Religion (New York: MacMillan, 1987). 10. Margaret and James Stutley, Harper’s Dictionary of Hinduism (New York: Harper and Row, 1977). 11. Frank E. Reynolds, Guide to Buddhist Religion (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981).