Bishop Payne Library

The Bishop Payne Library is located on the campus of the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. The library serves seminary students and their families, faculty and staff, as well as local clergy and Christian educators, students and faculty of the Washington Theological Consortium and VTS alumni. The Library holds over 250,000 volumes and provides access to 300,000 ebook titles and 2,000 periodicals and is also home to the Seminary Archives and the African-American Episcopal Historical Collection. As the research center on campus, the library’s mission is to provide patrons with research assistance in utilizing the library’s rich collections.

The Bishop Payne Library staff includes four professional librarians, two archivists, and support staff to assist patrons in their research. Reference assistance is available to faculty, staff, students, and the general public upon request. It is the policy of the Library to provide all patrons with professional, equitable, and courteous reference assistance.

The book drop is located outside, in front of the library building. Please return all books there.

Here is our page on accessing the library.

Group study room and carrels are for the use of the seminary community only. Please contact us at t 703.461.1733 or paynelib@vts.edu for assistance.

While on campus, a student may request items that are not owned by the Bishop Payne Library through InterLibrary Loan – ILL. These items must be used within the library while the student is in residence. Due to the nature of the ILL system, books are loaned from one library to another. Therefore, the borrowed items cannot be mailed to a third party.

Students, Faculty, and Staff have access to all of the library's digital resources, whether on or off campus. Users must authenticate as library patrons when using digital resources such as the library's OneSearch catalog or databases.

When you click through to view an e-book, e-journal article, or database requiring authentication, you will be prompted to sign in. Choose the "Sign In With Your Library Account" option on the login screen. Then, you will need to enter your last name and library barcode (example: BVTS0000000000 - include the first four letters of the barcode). 

The library uses a digital login platform called OpenAthens to provide a seamless and efficient authentication process. Learn more about our OpenAthens rollout here.

Before graduating, all masters and doctoral students must email a PDF copy of their thesis or dissertation to the Bishop Payne Library. Include your name, phone number, title, degree, and degree year. In addition, we ask that students allow the library to post their dissertation or thesis on the Bishop Payne Library’s BPL Digital Archive for unlimited digital access and downloads. To be included in the Digital Archive, fill out and sign the Non-Exclusive Thesis Distribution License and attach it to your email when sending your thesis or dissertation.

The library uses Thesis On Demand to process and bind print copies of theses and dissertations for its collection. Masters and doctoral students who want bound personal copies can use Thesis On Demand or another thesis binding service. All theses and dissertations are bound and placed in the library’s collection, and bibliographic records are added to the library’s online catalog.

Email paynelib@vts.edu if you have any questions.

Links

Non-Exclusive Thesis Distribution License
BPL Digital Archive
Thesis On Demand

For general reference:

paynelib@vts.edu  or 703.461.1733

Mailing Address:

Bishop Payne Library
Virginia Theological Seminary
3737 Seminary Road
Alexandria, VA 22304

Hours and Location