The Mount Angel Abbey Library

Today I spent about 2 1/2 hours in the Mt. Angel Abbey Library, near Salem, OR. It was a fascinating place just to be in, and an unexpected boon to my desire to collect some resources relating to bible study at the Guilford Church. This morning I talked with Pastor Elisa on the phone about just that: leading a Bible Study group. We set up a plan with three possible times, and some ideas for content, and Elisa will get the word out and we'll set a date in October for an organizational meeting to get it going. It was J. E. Seibert"s idea to go to the Abbey. I didn't realize the Abbey was also a seminary, and had a beautiful library, So she took me there and left me, and she and Ellen did some things, and then they came back and picked me up. Here is a little description of the library: Mount Angel Abbey Library was built by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto for the monks of the Benedictine abbey, who approached him in the early 1960s. Aalto had already built five other libraries in his native Finland, was intrigued by the site and accepted the commission after being personally visited in Switzerland by friars from the Oregon monastery. The library building is sited on the north side of the hill the abbey sits on. Viewed from the main entrance, the building seems short, small and unassuming, disappearing amongst the buildings that surround it. Once inside though, Aalto's library expands both horizontally and vertically in dramatic fashion. The building is loosely organized in an asymmetrical fan shape which radiates outward from the lobby towards the back wall of the library and down four floors to level ground further down the hill.

I found the section of stacks housing the collection relating to the Gospels, settled into a near-by carrel, and spent the time looking at books both about the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John - the former dealing with possible citations of my dissertation, and the latter with a possible topic of study for the Guilford Church group. I found a book, Earl Richard, ed., titled, New Views on Luke Acts. (Collegeville MN: The Liturgical Press, 1990). which quoted my work extensively. I was sort of amazed. And I found a book by Martin Hengel, The Johannine Question which goes into the authorship of the Gospel of John about as thoroughly as one could go, and develops a thesis that is not widely accepted. I'm not sure I'll be persuaded by the thesis, but it is packed with information. I photographed the entire book by holding it up to the computer screen and using Photo Booth to take a picture of each page (two at a time). That went pretty fast. I think it took about a half-hour or so to do the whole book. I can now read it on the computer. Tomorrow, I am planning to do the same thing with another book or two at the Wilamette U. Library. Here in Salem they are allowing "unaffiliated persons" to come into the library. I hope they will start doing that at Amherst and Smith back home! I have really missed being in an academic library since COVID closed them, and it was great to be able to be in one again. LATER After J.E. picked me up, we came back to her house and rested until it was time to go to supper at the Minto Farm Food Truck where we have often gone before. It was not yet crowded when we got there - no line - but by the time we left, it was very crowded. We had pizza and salad - everything grown there and very fresh. It is in a beautiful setting, with fields and flowers galore. We were in the shade and there was a nice little breeze. Very pleasant. Then we came back to the house, had sorbet and fruit on the back deck, and had fun sharing our resume's orally. I learned that both J.E. and I have worked in student services, dealing with dormitories. Here are scenes from Minto Farm: