Melody Layton McMahon
Director of the Paul Bechtold Library
M.S., School of Library Service, Columbia University; M.A., St. Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology
Though Melody has pursued her vocation in music libraries (Juilliard, Cleveland Institute of Music) and in a liberal arts setting (John Carroll University), theological librarianship has been a constant interest throughout. She has been an active participant in the Catholic Library Association, the Ohio Theological Library Association, and the American Theological Library Association, serving on a number of committees. In Chicago, Melody is involved in the Association of Chicago Theological Schools’ Library Council and the Chicago Area Theological Library Association.
Melody’s professional experience has included work in technical services, reference and research support, and library management, a range of experience which has served her well in preparation for assuming leadership of CTU’s Bechtold Library in 2008.
Melody is currently involved in the Lilly grant, Christians’ Callings in the World, which involves over 30 faculty members from five institutions. Her own work as a librarian is strongly influenced by her belief that she has a vocation, is “called” by God to be a theological librarian. Her thoughts about this are a jumble of ideas ranging from her love of Martha and the ideals of hospitality, some ideas from theosis, and the feeling that one way to mirror the image of God is to continue to grow in knowledge (and as a librarian she can facilitate this in others).
In recent years, Melody’s vocational interests have extended into writing, including numerous reviews, articles on faculty-library collaboration in Theological Education (2005) and “Librarians, Publishers, and Theological Reference Resources: A Way Forward” in Theological Librarianship, June 2009, co-editing an anthology of writings on theological librarianship (A Broadening Conversation: Classic Readings in Theological Librarianship, 2006), and serving as the Critical Reviews Editor for the recently-launched online journal Theological Librarianship: an Online Journal of the American Theological Library Association. In July 2009, Melody was the speaker for the annual meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Librarians and Information Scientists at the American Library Association conference.
Email: mmcmahon@ctu.edu