Kubic honored for years of service in theological libraries

Craig Kubic, librarian emeritus and senior professor of administration at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was honored May 24 with the Betty Hurtt Meritorious Service Award from the Association of Librarians and Archivists at Baptist Institutions.

“The Southwestern Seminary community joins me in expressing our heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Craig Kubic for this outstanding recognition from his librarian peers,” said David S. Dockery, president of Southwestern Seminary. “Dr. Kubic has served Southwestern extremely well for many years and we trust that he will continue to make a difference for the sake of students, staff, and faculty as he carries out his calling on this campus in a faithful way each and every day.”

Kubic expressed gratitude for being honored with the award.

“It is an honor, a privilege, and it is humbling to get this recognition from our colleagues who serve Baptists of all varieties,” said Kubic. “It is especially a privilege with the award being named after Betty Hurtt, a great librarian who served our denomination well.”

The award is a significant award for those who serve in the libraries of Baptist institutions. The award honors one recipient per year who show outstanding achievement in the roles performed by librarians, specifically in the preservation of the unique records and manuscripts that are housed in the Baptist libraries and archives.

Kubic has served as a librarian in a Southern Baptist seminary since 1979 when he began as a student assistant at Southwestern Seminary during his seminary studies. He then moved to California and served in the library at what is now known as Gateway Seminary for seven years before moving to Kansas City and serving Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s library for 26 years before returning to Southwestern in 2015 to serve as the dean of libraries. In November 2022, he was named librarian emeritus and was appointed to his faculty role in January.

“You could say it was my life coming full circle when I returned to Southwestern eight years ago,” said Kubic. “I thank the Lord for rewarding me with the ability to return to Southwestern.” Kubic remarked that the A. Webb Roberts Library on Southwestern’s campus is “one of the larger collections of theological material” in the United States and that it “contains many Baptist writings,” which makes the job at Southwestern “such an honor.”

Some may think that being a librarian at a seminary library would be very similar to any other type of library, but Kubic believes that it is a very special job with a special calling. “Theological libraries differ from secular schools in that we are serving the kind of folks who have a similar calling to us,” said Kubic.

“Ever since college where I served as a librarian while I was a student, I have felt called to serve the Lord, but I was not exactly sure how,” said Kubic. “When I graduated, I realized that calling was to serve the Lord in a theological library and now after almost 45 years of service, I feel that it is a great pleasure to be serving the Lord and His people.”

While Kubic began his time at Southwestern as a student assistant, he now has a different role as librarian emeritus. In this role, Kubic is able to help digitize resources in the library to ensure that they will be able to be utilized by students for years to come.

“Of course, I love being a librarian, but I also love not having to deal with the day-to-day things like the budget,” said Kubic. “Now I have the fun of meeting and getting to know students more personally and being able to mentor them in ways that I couldn’t if I were the head librarian.”

Kubic added that he enjoys the role of librarian emeritus because he gets to serve as the book conservator, adding that he “love[s] preservation and restoration of older resources like books and VHS tapes, and my job now lets me learn how to do this and then do it.”

“I find it challenging and interesting because I get to learn things like new technology,” said Kubic. “I’m an old dog learning new tricks, but I get to keep going in this area I love for hopefully a few more years if the Lord lets me.”