ETSC Library

G E M

Welcome to ETSC’s digital and physical libraries. Find books and more in the GEM:

• Global DTL: English digital books, journals, and music (ETSC students: find password)
• ETSC Catalog: Arabic and English physical books
• MENATE Library: Arabic digital books (ETSC students: sign in with email address as on Sola and click “Forgot password?”)

The Guide to the GEM lists important resources that are available online.

ETSC’s physical libraries contain 40,000+ volumes in Arabic and 32,000+ volumes in English. The collection covers biblical, theological, and religious studies in general, with an emphasis on Middle Eastern Christianity and the Egyptian Evangelical Presbyterian tradition.

Locations: At the Cairo campus, the library collection is divided over four locations:

• main library (including separate rooms for the “reference,” “periodicals,” and “archive” collections)
• Kenneth Bailey library of the Center for Middle East Christianity (CMEC), located on the top floor of ETSC’s main building
• library of the Church and Society Center (CSC), located in the extension
• library of the Martha Roy Center for Worship (MRCW), located in the extension.

Moreover, there are four daughter libraries in the ETSC branches in Alexandria, Minya, Asyut, and Sohag.

Catalog: In the online ETSC Catalog, one can easily see which book can be found at which location.

Reading and borrowing:

• Students can read books in the library during opening hours and can borrow most books.
• Pastors can read books in the library and can borrow books according to a special regulation.
• Visitors can read books in the library for a small fee. They are not allowed to borrow books.

Opening hours of the main library:

• During semester: Mon-Thu 9 am-7 pm, Fri+Sat 9 am-5 pm
• During summer: Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm

The library is closed for public holidays and for Christmas and Easter breaks. In summer, access is sometimes limited because of the library inventory.

For access to the other library locations, contact the library for up-to-date opening hours.

Donations: The ETSC library accepts book gifts from personal libraries or publishers through coordination with the head librarian.

Contact: 

• Main library: 02-26825680, ext. 1702 (from outside Egypt: +20-2-26825680, ext. 1702).
• Libraries in Alexandria, Minya, Asyut, and Sohag: contact the coordinator of the branch.

Other physical libraries: Cairo has several research libraries that are relevant to theological and religious studies. For example, the IDEO library – at 2 km from ETSC – is specialized in classical Arabic and Islamic studies and counts over 155,000 volumes. For visitor information and fees, see the IDEO website.

ETSC is subscribed to two digital theological libraries: Global DTL and MENATE. Moreover, readers in Egypt have free access to other digital libraries such as Internet Archive, SBL Online Book Repository, and Wiley Online Library.

1. Global DTL: ETSC is subscribed to the Global Digital Theological Library. This online library contains: (a) 600,000 books, including 30,000 in the area of Bible, Theology, Religion, and Philosophy published during the last forty years (80% in English, 20% in German, French, etc.); (b) a large collection of scholarly journals, incl. JSTOR archives; and (c) 200,000 hours of classical music.

• ETSC students, faculty, and staff: the password that is needed to access most resources can be found on Moodle.
• ETSC is not allowed to share the password of the Global DTL with graduates and visitors. But anyone can use the smaller Open Access DTL instead – no password needed.
• The Global DTL is a ‘library of libraries’: the books and journal articles that one finds in the Global DTL are located in other digital libraries. The Guide to the GEM provides an overview of these libraries. Moreover, this guide lists specific resources that are available through the Global DTL.

2. MENATE Library: ETSC is subscribed to the MENATE Digital Library. This online library contains 1100+ theological books in Arabic, including textbooks, Bible commentaries, and reference works.

• ETSC students, faculty, and staff: sign in with the email address with which you are registered on Sola and click on “Forgot password?” if you do not yet have a password.
• ETSC cannot provide free access to the MENATE library to graduates and visitors. But anyone can become a member of the MENATE library by paying a monthly or annual fee.

3. Internet Archive: The Internet Archive contains millions of books, mostly in English.

• Books published between ca. 1930 and 2015 are available for online borrowing. Readers can create their own free account to be able to borrow these books.
• The following collections in the Internet Archive are especially relevant to theological studies: CST Library Donation, GTU Library and Archives, and PTSem Theological Commons. (In general, ETSC encourages the use of reputable, library‑sourced materials in the Internet Archive but advises caution with unverified user uploads.)
• The Internet Archive can be accessed from Egypt and most other countries, but some countries filter or block it.

4. SBL Online Book Repository: The SBL repository contains 700+ books in the area of biblical studies, mostly published during the past 25 years. Readers in Egypt and other lower-income countries have free access to these books. In higher-income countries, they are not available.

5. Wiley Online Library: The Wiley library contains 27,000+ books and 2,000+ journals in English, in all fields of study. In Egypt, readers have free access to most resources published between 1997 and 2022 (roughly 75% of the library) – no password needed. In the area of biblical, theological, and religious studies this includes, e.g., Wiley Blackwell Companions, Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries, and several theological journals. In other countries, less resources may be available for free.