As the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) celebrates the important milestone of its 60th anniversary this year, the editors have brought together in a single-volume anthology some of the best contributions to this field. Essays and papers from the past sixty years are grouped into six topical chapters (theological librarianship's characteristics, dimensions, educational role, settings, development within ATLA's sixty years, and most noteworthy changes), each of which is introduced by a present-day theological librarian. This collection is likely to be valuable in many ways: as a compendium of wisdom and "best practices" over several generations, as a means of securing a grasp of how ATLA's importance and influence as an association has grown over time, and even for the way it brings back to light the life and work of so many fine librarians, Raymond Morris (Yale Divinity Library) and Julia Pettee (Union Theological Seminary) among them. Even more important, A Broadening Conversation affirms vividly that (instead of the ethos of tradition and continuity that one might suppose) a mix of trusted routines with perpetual change is what has always been on the menu for theological librarians in their daily work. This is at the heart of what continues to make theological librarianship such a challenging and rewarding vocation.

Thirteen year old Margaret Ann Doyle, deprived of her innocence by a shameless priest, is placed in the solitary confinement of a convent where he hides his young carnal conquests. Resisting authority at first, she finally yields to the pressures of the Abbess and dedicates her life to the Church. Over the next decade, Sister Margaret devotes her newfound talents as a nurse with the highly regarded Daughters of Charity. Responding to a need for nurses at the penal colony on the other side of the world, Sister Margaret departs for Australia. On a mission of mercy, a few years after her arrival, she is kidnapped by Bushrangers and held as their captive within the Blue Mountains of New South Wales where she establishes a clinic and treats ill and injured escaped convicts. Three years into her imprisonment, an enigmatic aborigine elder rescues her and forever changes her life. Bestowing her with mystical powers, he sends her on a religious pilgrimage to northern Mexico to meet with a young Indian, a child whose name will one day be written in the annals of Native American history. But first she must cross the path of the mighty Mexican Army on its way to oust a group of American pioneers sheltered within the walls the Alamo. On her trek across Mexico, Sister Margaret discovers a long, lost brother being held captive by the ferocious Chiricahua Indians. Using her extraordinary powers, she rescues her sibling from the Apaches and escorts him to safety in New Orleans where she almost forfeits her own life. Rescued once again by the mysterious aborigine, she boards a stern-wheeler and sails up the Mississippi River to Pittsburgh where a horse drawn packet takes her east on the Pennsylvania Canal system where river bandits rob her packet near the town of Lebanon. During the robbery, she suspects that one of the outlaws could be another long lost brother, the black sheep of the family, who had reportedly died twenty years earlier.

This updated reference guide directs students to over five hundred significant theological resources across a wide area of theological research. It details bibliographic sources for encyclopedias, dictionaries, and electronic resources in biblical studies, historical studies, theology, and practical theology.