Library Resources

Students, faculty, and staff of The General Theological Seminary receive library support through the Affiliation Agrement with Virginia Theological Seminary. They can access digital resources through the Bishop Payne Library catalog page: https://library.vts.edu/ . When prompted for a login, please use the library barcode that was sent to you via email from the VTS library. If you have any questions, please contact librarians at library@gts.edu or https://library.vts.edu/ask-librarian.

GTS alumni also have full access to Bishop Payne Library resources, including the option to have physical books mailed to you. If you have not yet accessed the Bishop Payne Library, you will need to register for a GTS alumni library account, which you can do here: https://library.vts.edu/gts-alumni-account-registration

The Keller Library

As part of its agreement to lease the Close to Vanderbilt University, GTS will retain a portion of the library containing approximately 10,000 open stacks books to be used by students during their intensive weeks. A total of 7,500 rare books and 13 archival collections were moved from the Keller Library to the Bishop Payne Library in the spring of 2024 to increase access for scholars and enhance their preservation. These items included the Canon J. Robert Wright Estate Book of Common Prayer Collection, the Early English Theology Collection, some incunables, Anglicana, pamphlets, and early printed Bibles, as well as selected historic archival collections, including the Samuel Seabury Papers. Several hundred additional rare books were moved to the Bishop Payne Library in December, including a collection of Books of Common Prayer in a variety of languages, as well as additional archival holdings some of which are being maintained in off-site storage. Overall, a total of 1,100 linear feet of archives have been transferred. Everything moved to VTS remains the property of GTS.

Christoph Keller, Jr. Library at General Seminary

In 1820, John Pintard, an early New York civic leader, found “the only set of the Fathers now for sale in America” and raised $330 from his friends to donate the set to the fledgling General Theological Seminary, “to form the proud commencement of a Library.”