NASHVILLE, TN - As The United Methodist Publishing House prepares to move to a new location in the MetroCenter area of Nashville, they have been reviewing their historic collections that include hand presses, publishing equipment, and a significant library.

“As the headquarters of publishing for The United Methodist Church, The United Methodist Publishing House has over the years acquired these artifacts and books that help to connect us to our heritage as a people of faith, as a movement, as a church, and as publishing entity,” said Neil Alexander, President & Publisher of UMPH. Part of the library collection includes a noteworthy group of general books printed in various languages during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, all in various stages of disrepair. The majority of these books are part of the collection that came to UMPH from the Western Book Concern when that facility closed in 1939. These books have not been in active use at the Publishing House library because of their fragile nature and have been stored apart from the general collection.