Bridwell Library Mission Statement

Approved by the faculty, April 6, 2009

The mission of Bridwell Library is to provide services and scholarly resources to support Perkins School of Theology and its twin tasks of theological education and theological reflection. 

Bridwell Library is the principal bibliographic resource at Southern Methodist University for the fields of theology and religious studies. The library’s current and historical sources (including special collections) support, complement and enrich the teaching, research, and service missions of the Perkins School of Theology as well as Southern Methodist University’s Graduate Program in Religious Studies.  In addition, Bridwell Library is an important resource for other university programs and the extended religious, academic, and bibliographical communities.

In seeking to fulfill its mission Bridwell Library is committed to the following goals:

1. Services: To provide timely, effective and courteous assistance and instruction. 
2. Collections: To select, acquire, organize, preserve and facilitate access to current and historical scholarly resources in accordance with our collection development policy.
3. Physical Space: To provide an environment that encourages contemplation, learning, research and collaboration.
4. Staff: To recruit and retain a diverse and knowledgeable staff committed to service excellence and continuous learning.
5. Collaboration: To participate actively in various library partnerships, organizations and networks on the campus, regional, national and international levels.