(This article will be published in the Winter 2024 ECHO Magazine, celebrating the “90 Faces of LBC” to commemorate the college’s 90th anniversary.)
With Christmas just around the corner, the season of giving is upon us. Earlier this year, the Charles & Gloria Jones Library at Lancaster Bible College also received a significant gift—the donation of 1,000 items from an adjunct professor’s personal collection.
Dr. James L. Sauer, a humanities instructor and Library Volunteer for Collection Development, generously donated his entire C.S. Lewis collection, comprised of 400 books and 600 periodical issues.
Dr. James L. Sauer, a humanities instructor and Library Volunteer for Collection Development, generously donated his entire C.S. Lewis collection, comprised of 400 books and 600 periodical issues regarding C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings—a group of individual authors who knew Lewis during his time at Oxford and Cambridge universities, including Dorothy Sayers, Charles Williams and Austen Farrer.
Throughout nearly 40 years as a librarian at Eastern University, many extra copies of Lewis’ works, and those who associated with him, came across Sauer’s path, and over time, helped grow his collection.
“As a librarian, I had a tendency to ‘bring my work home with me,’” Sauer shared. “The books were piling up in my house, and my dear wife made the ‘suggestion’ that I find a place for my many volumes.”
Although it was difficult for him to part with his vast collection, Sauer acknowledged “that is what libraries are for,” to share books in order to further the impact he experienced as a teenager from the works of Lewis.
Sauer was introduced to Lewis’ works during his sophomore year of high school, and from there his appreciation for Lewis’ writings only grew. “I had stumbled upon a Christian author who opened up the imagination and reason in defense of Jesus Christ and His gospel,” Sauer reflected. “This was good news for me. I began collecting Lewis-related books.”
Sauer’s donation is intended to strengthen the humanity and theology resources in the Charles & Gloria Jones Library, and according to Sauer, LBC’s relatively new Christian Thought in the Humanities program has already benefitted from the Oxford Christian Scholars Collection.