New leader for Mennonite Historical Library in Goshen
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The Mennonite Historical Library at Goshen College has named a new head librarian to lead one of the world’s most comprehensive collections related to Anabaptist and Mennonite history.
Eric Bradley, who was a research and instruction librarian at Goshen College for more than a decade, assumed the role Sept. 30, the college said in a news release. He replaced Joe Springer, who was the MHL curator for 38 years.
The Mennonite Historical Library, on the third floor of the college’s Good Library, is considered one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of resources on Anabaptists, Mennonites and related groups, the college said. Founded in 1906, it holds over 90,000 volumes.
“There’s a passion in Eric for thinking about how more students can become connected to the MHL,” Elizabeth Miller, director of the MHL and the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism, said in the release.
The library is used by a variety of researchers, both locally and internationally, and one of its goals is to continue to broaden its accessibility. Bradley is expected to continue the library’s effort to digitize its collections to further its relationship with scholars, libraries and churches worldwide, the college said.
“This is an active, living, growing collection,” Bradley said in the news release. “It’s called the Mennonite Historical Library, but it’s not just historical—it really is a historical and contemporary library of materials.”
A holder of a master’s degree in library science from Indiana University and a bachelor’s in Biblical studies from Grace College, Bradley has collaborated with libraries across Indiana in a variety of ways, the news release said. He was named to the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana’s Hall of Fame for his work as a reference, instruction and outreach coordinator for the organization.
Bradley said he is eager to embrace his new role at the Mennonite Historical Library.
“It’s exciting to think through ways that we can move this collection into this next stage of the world of information that we live in — and the world of our faith communities as well,” he said in the news release.