The Association of Chicago Theological Schools was formed in 1983 and incorporated in 1984. This ecumenical association consists fo nine Protestant and three Roman Catholic seminaries. All schools are accredited members of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. Each of the nine Protestant schools is affiliated with a corresponding denomination. One Roman Catholic school is the official theologate for thirty-one religious orders of men and serves a large number of communities of women; another is the official seminary of the Archfiocese of Chicago. The third is the Institutes of Pastoral Studies, which is a part of Loyola University Chicago. The Wheaton College Library is also a member of the Library Council.

The combined ACTS library collections comprise 2.1 million volumes of religious books, about 5,500 currently received periodicals, electronic media equipment and modern language laboratory facilities.

The campuses and libraries of five schools are located in close proximity in the Hyde Park area of Chicago near the University of Chicago. These are: Catholic Theological Union (CTU), Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS), Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), McCormick Theological Seminary (MTS), and Meadville Lombard Theological School.

The campuses in Hyde Park can be reached by car via the Chicago metropolitan expressway system either from the Lake Shore Drive (South) or the Dan Ryan expressway (I-90/94), and by public transportation either with CTA elevated train or Metra to the respective 55th Street stations and connecting buses.

Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, (NBTS) is situated in west-suburban Lombard, and can be reached by car via the East-West Tollway (I-88) to Highland Avenue, Highland Ave. north to Butterfield Road, (Route 56), Butterfield Road east entrance.

North Park Theological Seminary (NPTS) is located on the far north side of Chicago and can be reached by car via the Chicago metropolitan expressway system either for the Lake Shore Drive (North) or the Kennedy expressway (I-94), and by public transportation with CTA and elevated Howard train tot he Berwyn Street station and connecting bus or the Ravenswood line to Kimball Street station.

Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (GETS) and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary (SWTS) are located respectively on the east and west sides of Sheridan Road on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston. These two campuses can be reached either by car via the Lake Shore Drive (North) and Sheridan Road or by public transportation with the CTA elevated train to the Noyes Street station.

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) located in Deerfield, can be reached by car via the Edens Espressway (I-94) with an exit at Route 22. The School is immediately to the east of the expressway.

Mundelein Seminary (MS) of the University of St. Mary of the Lake is located in Mudelein, forty miles northwast of downtown Chicago, and may be reached by car via the Tri-State Tollway (I-94) north to the Route 176 exit, 176 west to Mundelein. MS is located on the north side of 176.

Loyola University is located on the far north side of Chicago along the east side of Sheridan Road and at CTA elevated train Loyola Station.

Wheaton College is located west of Chicago in Wheaton, Illinios on I-88 with an exit north on Route 53, to Route 38, and west to Main Street. It is an associate member of ACTS.

Meadville Lombard has particularly close ties with the Chicago Theological Seminary which is located one block away. Because we share a Library director on a joint appointment, we can readily cooperate in our collection development, and hope to merge some fields into one library in order to eliminate duplication. Meadville Lombard is further coordinating the creation of a specialized nucleus of liberal religious education materials at the Sophia Lyon Fahs Center for Religious Education.

ACTS library council website