Booth College of Mission Library

I love having a place where I can study with such a wonderful range of resources right on hand – simply marvellous!!

Booth College of Mission Library User

A notable history and ability to provide for the         ongoing needs of their community is what     distinguishes the Booth College of Mission Library in       New Zealand.

The first training college and library for the Salvation Army was established in Wellington in 1912 and in 1983 a new college and library was built in Trentham, Upper Hutt.

In 2000 the college was named Booth College of Mission (BCM) and in 2010 the BCM Library and The Salvation Army Heritage Centre and Archives was brought together in a new extension collectively known as the Plowman Resource Centre.

The vision of the BCM Library is to provide a high quality learning centre and resource hub, supporting both the training and education programmes of Booth College of Mission and the needs of the regional community.

Softlink’s Liberty cloud hosted library and content knowledge management solution is helping the library to achieve this. Implemented in December 2015, the librarian said she is pleased to have the Liberty system in place knowing that it will greatly benefit the library and the library community.

Having an integrated library management system enables easy access to the library’s over 18,000 theological resources and the library’s sole charge librarian to better support and manage the needs of the community.

As the largest theological library in the lower North Island the library services theological students, teachers and pastors.

Library users love the range of resources available and the library space is deeply respected by the community. The librarian often receives feedback like:

“I love having a place where I can study with such a wonderful range of resources right on hand – simply marvellous!!”                                                          

“I really appreciate both the range and depth of books (and other resources); it’s easy to get an overview or a deep treatment of a topic, including competing ideas that draw you to study to form your own views.”

The BCM library is an integral resource for the students and staff of the college and the regional community. The introduction of Liberty helps to form part of the next phase of the library’s history, its future.