By LJ Staff

Columbia University Libraries announced that it has closed a deal to acquire the Burke Library at the Union Theological Seminary, the largest theological library in the western hemisphere, with holdings of over 700,000 items. Under terms of the deal, the library will become part of the Columbia University Libraries, effective July 2004. The library will retain the name Burke Library as well as its basic theological character. Burke's collection, service, and technology programs will be fully integrated into the Columbia Libraries, directed by James Neal, university librarian and vice president for information services. Officials say that, as part of the Columbia University Libraries, the collections at Burke will continue to expand, and Union's students, faculty, and researchers also will have access to the services and collections offered by Columbia's Libraries and Information Services Division.

The Burke Library contains unique and special materials including rare special collections and early editions of the Bible in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Reverend Joseph Hough, president of the seminary, told the New York Times that skyrocketing technology costs made "the expense of maintaining a huge library" a difficult proposition. Union is the oldest nondenominational seminary in the nation. The agreement also was reportedly hastened by the seminary's shrinking endowment, which has fallen to about $60 million from $79 million just a few years ago.