Lauren Young, librarian and instruction coordinator in Harwell Goodwin Davis Library, has recently been appointed to the Atla Open Press Editorial Board.

Atla is an international library association specializing in religious and theological information resources and is comprised of the librarians and publishers who work to make them available. Formerly ATLA, an acronym standing for the American Theological Library Association, Atla rebranded itself in 2019 in order to better reflect the global scope of its reach as stated in its core purpose: “to promote worldwide scholarly communication in religion and theology by advancing the work of libraries and related information providers.” The Books@Atla editorial board consists of a team of six that oversees the publication process for monographs published on the association’s open access platform.

This prestigious appointment has placed Young in the position to contribute to monograph idea development and review proposals submitted by association members while serving as a liaison between the board and monograph authors and anthology editors. Liaisons shepherd authors and editors through manuscript writing, editing, and publication on the open access platform.

“I am honored to be working with this team. I believe in the association and its goals, and as a relatively new member, I can’t think of a better way to get involved and meet the professionals working diligently in this information domain,” said Young.

During Young’s time at Samford, she has had the opportunity to work with patrons navigating religious and theological topics and resources.

“I am a stronger Christian and a better librarian for it. Simultaneously, I have been so inspired by the faith and learning discussions on campus and have endeavored to address the importance of Christian worldview in information appraisal in my instruction and research efforts. I am thankful for a place like Samford which encourages Christian academicians to bring their whole selves to work each day. And, I am grateful for the support of my superiors in the Library who have encouraged protected time for research and have supported service in roles such as this one,” said Young.

Atla publishes numerous licensed resources, including the Atla Religion Database, to which Samford subscribes, and boasts a robust open access publishing platform including periodical and monograph titles.