Library Orientation: Library Services

ALL STUDENTS AND FACULTY SHOULD CONTACT RECIPROCAL LIBRARIES AHEAD OF TIME TO CONFIRM ACCESS. Participating libraries may have temporary COVID-related restrictions on reciprocal borrowing.

PTS students and faculty are granted access to resources at our reciprocal borrowing partner institutions (linked below). Visitors to these institutions receive limited borrowing privileges, which are stipulated by the individual libraries. Different institutions have different procedures for receiving a reciprocal card, but it is advised that students are prepared to provide both a campus ID and a valid driver's license or state-issued ID.

• Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodist

• Duquesne University

• Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS)

• Trinity School for Ministry

• University of Pittsburgh Library System

PTS students and faculty are also granted access to select libraries nationwide through the ATLA Reciprocal Borrowing Program. See the participating institutions list here. 

Reference services are available both in-person and online at the times listed below. For online chat reference, visit the Library FAQs page or the Library Catalog. The chat reference window is the 'Ask Us' box on the right hand side of the page (or the bottom of the page in mobile view). It can also be accessed by click the 'Ask a Librarian' tab also on the right hand side of the page throughout our website.

Books and articles not available at Barbour Library can often be borrowed from another library by submitting an Interlibrary Loan Request Form , or by contacting Mark Russell or ill@pts.edu. All current PTS faculty, staff, and students are eligible to use ILL services. However, persons with blocks on their library account due to fines, overdue books, or other reasons may be blocked from ILL services until the library account is cleared. 

Before requesting an ILL, please check our online catalog and the Find Journal Titles link on the library homepage to verify that we do not have the item. For more information on ILL, visit our Interlibrary Loan page.

There are group study rooms, meeting rooms, a classroom, and closed carrels available for reservation by students through 25Live. When reserving a closed carrel specifically, please select Library Carrel Reservation as the 'Event Type'. This blocks your carrel reservation from showing up on campus-wide daily event listings. For more guidance on using 25LIve, please see the IT handout below.

The staff listed below comprises the Public Services department here at Barbour Library, and our mission is to assist you! For the full listing of library staff with contact information, visit our staff directory.

• Michelle Spomer, Director

• Mark Russell, Reference and Instruction Librarian

• Tisha Woo, User Services Librarian