The seminaries historically served by the JKM Library are transitioning to a new set of online services for the 2026–27 academic year.
These services will be provided by a partnership the seminaries have negotiated with the Graduate Theological Union for access through their TRELIS program. For more information, see the announcement.
Please contact library@gtu.edu for services information. Sessions will be available at seminary orientations—please attend!
Physical collection and interlibrary loan access will now be through the seminaries' existing partnership with the University of Chicago. Please contact Dr. Anne Knafl for assistance.
The JKM Library no longer holds any physical items, and our access to the I-Share network maintained by the CARLI consortium is ending. Certain electronic resources will remain available as contracts expire, to be replaced by TRELIS services.
However, while we are still in the I-Share systems, current JKM patrons can visit CTU's Bechtold Library on the 5th floor to apply for local borrowing with your student ID. In the future, this will also require an ACTS card.
Like JKM, the GTU uses OpenAthens logins for all of their services. If your name has been submitted by your seminary for TRELIS access, they will be creating an OpenAthens login for you.
However, there's a problem. Your email address can only exist once in all of OpenAthens.
This means that if you use it to log in to JKM services (instead of your library card number like jkmlib29967000054321), GTU can't use it to create your new account.
Your seminaries, the GTU Hewlett Library staff, and JKM are working on this, but with over 400 accounts in our OpenAthens, and JKM services you may need access to, some still in active use, we are seeking a transition that is minimally disruptive.
Your patience is appreciated as we roll out these newly-contracted services. Please bear with us, and watch your email!
The JKM Library is the library for McCormick Theological Seminary and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. JKM is the only library providing access to I-Share and full access to electronic resources for McCormick and LSTC students, faculty and staff.
We currently house around 34,000 books in controlled storage in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, and provide access to over 600,000 electronic books and a wide range of database resources.
As patrons of JKM, members of the McCormick and LSTC communities also have access to our partner libraries in the ACTS and I-Share consortia. Through the seminaries, our patrons have auxiliary access to the physical collections of the University of Chicago Libraries.
The JKM Library also provides services to the other ACTS seminaries in Chicago, and to many other libraries throughout the state of Illinois using the ILDS and RAILS systems. And through OCLC WorldShare, we offer scanning services for our physical collections to libraries all over the world.
