How many women theologians can you name?
Since March 2023, the librarians have worked to increase the representation of women theologians in the Heythrop Library collection. Historically, women have been underrepresented in academic Theology and the Library’s Theology holdings are indeed dominated by male authors. There’s not scope within this blog post to explore the reasons for this gender imbalance (interesting as that would be!), but instead this post will discuss our collection development project.
Photo of Womanist Theology books, by NH
Many libraries are engaged with increasing the representation of marginalised voices on their shelves, from academic to public libraries. Building a more gender-inclusive library collection also helps Heythrop Library to support the Jesuits’ social justice mission, as expressed on the LJC’s web page: “We are passionate about social justice, supporting the marginalised and oppressed […]”.
My approach to the project has been to create a list of women theologians by name, check for un-held books by or about them that fit within our ‘Collection Management and Development Policy’, send lists of suggested titles to Clemens, and purchase them if approved. Work experience students have also helped us with the project.
It’s important that historic and current women theologians are visible throughout the Library’s Theology holdings, not only in the areas of feminist and womanist theology, although the number of books there has certainly increased! Since beginning the project, we have purchased over eighty books by or about women theologians, which is just over 10% of the number of books the Library purchases in a year.
This long-term project is ongoing, and we welcome suggestions from library members for new acquisitions. Please email us at heythroplibrary@jesuit.org.uk
Are you interested in reading more theology by women writers, feminist or womanist theologians, but don’t know where to start? Here are 5 recommendations:
NH
Featured image caption: Shelf of feminist theology books.
What are your thoughts about the above?