In academic circles, a Festschrift is one of the rare honours that cannot be chased down or applied for. A Festschrift, which is German for “celebration writing” and originated in 19th century German universities, is awarded when peers and former students decide that someone’s life’s work has made a lasting mark on a field. In William Badke’s case, the Festschrift is being produced to recognize more than three decades of influence in information literacy and research training.
Badke, associate librarian at Trinity Western University with primary responsibility for information resources and research training at Associated Canadian Theological Schools (ACTS), still sounds surprised by the attention. “Why me?” he asked in a recent interview, reflecting on how the project seemed to “suddenly pop up.”
Yet the backstory makes the recognition feel less sudden and more inevitable: a decades-long pattern of quiet impact and steady publishing and a vocation shaped by service to students who are learning how to navigate the “information fog.”
The hidden intensity of library work
On an average Monday afternoon, between meetings and a full inbox, William Badke laughs about how his week usually begins: planned, colour-coded, and optimistic. Then reality hits as student questions arrive, assignments stack up, library decisions land in spreadsheets, technology issues surface, and email threads multiply as librarians collaborate toward solutions.
“You’ll end up with 15 emails before we finally say, ‘Okay, we’ve agreed,’” he said. By Friday, the library team is tired. But Badke is also clear-eyed about why the work matters. Libraries have become deeply technological, and for him that shift has expanded, not diminished, the librarian’s role. From his home office, he teaches research courses, produces online tutorials, creates research guides, and supports graduate students across multiple theological programs.
“If you want a job with ultimate variety,” he said, “either be a firefighter or be a librarian.”
A winding path that started with redirection
Badke did not set out to become an academic librarian. He began with psychology, earning his BA at The University of British Columbia in 1971 and hoping to pursue clinical psychology. But competition for doctoral programs was fierce. He had strong grades, he said, but not strong enough to secure the spot he wanted.
The result was a season of disorientation. He returned home to Kelowna and took a job grinding lenses in an optical shop. He became skilled at it quickly, but it did not feel like his purpose.
“I hadn’t planned for this to be my life,” he said. “Kind of lost and abandoned.”
That uncertainty pushed him toward theological education. He earned a Master of Divinity (1975) and a Master of Theology (1977) at Northwest Baptist Seminary, imagining a future in pastoral work and counselling. Then an unexpected opportunity opened through a classmate from Nigeria. Badke and his wife moved to Abak, Nigeria, where he taught at Qua Iboe Church Bible College, Abak, Nigeria from 1979–1981.
It was there, in a practical and costly way, that libraries became central to his story. While in Nigeria, he reorganized a library collection and experienced severe exposure to book mold, which he described as damaging his lungs to the point that he struggled to breathe. He returned home, recovered, and continued teaching. Later, when a library position opened, he recognized something he had not fully named before: he had been drawn to libraries for much of his life.
Thus, Badke completed his Master of Library Science at The University of British Columbia in 1985 then stepped into academic librarianship and theological education in tandem.
The writing life: textbooks, theology & mystery
Badke’s influence is not limited to one classroom or one institution. His bibliography spans practical research instruction, faith-based reflection, and creative writing.
His best-known title for many students is Research Strategies: Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog (7th edition, 2021), a widely used textbook that distills the research process into clear, teachable moves. He has also written Teaching Research Processes: The Faculty Role in the Development of Skilled Student Researchers (2nd edition, 2021), aimed at helping faculty partner with librarians to develop students as capable, confident researchers.
What connects his work from textbook writing to theological books and to mystery novels is a consistent concern for how people search for truth, make sense of complexity, and learn to think well.
Why a Festschrift makes sense
A Festschrift does not appear out of nowhere. It appears when a community decides that someone’s work made them better at what they do. In Badke’s case, the evidence is scattered across course syllabi, email threads, marked-up drafts, conference presentations, books, and the quiet relief of students who realize they are not alone in the search.
When Badke talks about impact, he does not lead with awards or publication counts. He leads with students. He remembers a seminary student from years ago who came to his office with tears in his eyes. Badke braced for the student’s frustration. Instead, the student told him something Badke has never forgotten—that had he not taken Badke’s research course in his first semester, he would have dropped out of seminary entirely.
“It meant so much to him to be there,” Badke recalled. “He said, ‘I would have washed out.’”
For Badke, that moment captures what research training can do at its best: it keeps a student’s calling from collapsing under the weight of unfamiliar academic expectations. It gives them language, tools, and confidence to continue.
“The ultimate goal of scholarship,” he said, “is to make a better world.”
For Badke, that includes Christian witness, but also the daily, practical love of helping people learn—helping them find what is credible, helping them ask better questions, and helping them persist when research feels like fog.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students for life. Uniting faith and reason through Christian teaching and scholarship, TWU is a research institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities and sciences as well as in several professional schools. TWU has its main campus in Langley, B.C. and campus sites in Richmond, B.C. and Ottawa, Ont.
Learn more at twu.ca or follow @TrinityWestern on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. For media inquiries, please contact media@twu.ca.