Roman Catholic

David Kriegh, Saint Mary’s College of California, Convener

Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology, Secretary

Members Present

  • Anthony Amodeo, Retired
  • Jessica Boyer, Mount St. Mary’s University
  • Clay-Edward Dixon, Graduate Theological Union
  • Connor Flatz, St. Joseph’s Seminary
  • Stephanie Garrett, Catholic International University
  • Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology
  • Barnaby Hughes, Atla
  • Alexander Justice, Loyola Marymount University
  • Br. Andrew Kosmowski, SM, North American Center for Marianist Studies
  • Alan Krieger, University of Notre Dame
  • David Kriegh, Saint Mary’s College of California
  • Brian Morin, Mt. Angel Abbey
  • Ann Owen, Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology
  • Steve Perisho, Seattle Pacific University
  • Derek Rieckens, Baker & Taylor
  • Stephen Sweeney, St. John Vianney Seminary

Members Absent

  • Fr. John Martin Ruiz, OP, Dominican Theological Library

Year in Review

A wonderful time was had by all of our in-person attendees at the annual conference in Long Beach, culminating in our traditional denominational dinner held at Solita Tacos and Margaritas, an event so large we had to make two reservations! With all of that socializing out of the way, we were more than ready to conduct our business meeting on the following Tuesday, June 25. With much old business to unpack, following up on these projects was the main focus of the meeting. We kicked things off with some quick introductions, including the sharing of the books we were reading. Regular features of the meeting include a recap of presentations at the conference by members of our group and an update from our friends at the Catholic Library Association. The recent integration of the Catholic Research Resources Alliance into the Atla family of products and services dominated the conversation, with an interest in adjusting our previous conversations about developing LibGuides of Catholic content into a more comprehensive partnership. Two matters of old business around the defunct Origins and problematic L’Osservatore Romano appear to have run their course. Meanwhile, conversations around collaborative collections have shifted into exploring new tools that may be more effective than GreenGlass to provide insights to similar type libraries as to how they can support one another. Finally, prior to the closing prayer, we reported to the group on the successes and challenges our libraries face. We remain resilient and committed to connecting the populations we serve through access to quality resources.

Agenda

  1. Opening prayer by David Kriegh
  2. Welcome and Introductions
  3. Old Business
    1. Presentation Roundup
      • Stephen Sweeney, Kathy Harty, Dyan Barbeau, Stephanie Garrett, Brian Morin, David Kriegh all presented at this year’s conference.
    2. CRRA integration into Atla (was LibGuide Project)
      • CRRA has come under the umbrella of Atla, which has agreed to keep those resources freely and openly available.
      • In addition to the Catholic Portal and the Newspaper Archive, the subject guides created by Ted Bergfelt at Duquesne University will be maintained. There is a need to update some of the information in those.
      • Additionally, there is still a place for a “Catholicism 101” guide within the Atla LibGuides, which is where this group may best be able to contribute. The RC LibGuide Suggested Sources spreadsheet created last year may be a good starting place.
      • Regarding the Newspaper Archive, what about resources from religious congregations? They may have materials that would be excellent prospects for digitization, but would need assistance with the process. Contacting Jean McManus might be helpful, as she had dealt with this.
    3. Core Print Analysis
      • This may be a fading need for the group. However, several members are either investigating or using Choreo from OCLC to analyze their collections.
      • This may be a fruitful topic for a presentation next year.
    4. Catholic Library Association Update (presented by Br. Andrew Kosmowski)
      • The spring conference was in April, held virtually. CLA is planning two webinars for continuing education.
      • Sometime in October, Dr. Leslie Farmer will present on AI in schools, and a second webinar on Eastern European libraries is being planned.
      • Finally, the Catholic Library World will be full-text in the Atla databases once contract negotiations are completed.
    5. Origins
      • The publication seems to be well and truly defunct, and mourned by all.
    6. l’Osservatore Romano
      • Some members have been having difficulties in receiving their English-language issues, most likely due to changes in U.S. distributors. If anyone has back issues they would like to contribute, Barnaby Hughes will be happy to receive them for indexing.
  4. New Business
    • There was no new business raised.
  5. Closing Prayer was offered by David Kriegh following the Round Robin Reports.

Round Robin Reports

Saint Mary’s College of California - David Kriegh is the Head of Collection Management, and will be adding Theology to his portfolio of subjects. There have been budget cuts, but they expect to weather this well.

Graduate Theological Union - Is losing the Episcopalian school because it is moving entirely online. This loss in revenue and resources has impacted their collection development, particularly in periodical standing orders.

North American Center for Marianist Studies - Has had a slight increase in their budget. Br. Andrew will be training several members from overseas in the basics of cataloging. If anyone has suggestions or materials for training, please contact him.

University of Notre Dame - The library is reorganizing its staffing and is moving to a collection strategy featuring annual purchases of large interdisciplinary ebook packages from a variety of publishers. Alan Krieger will become more involved with resource vendor communications as well as continuing his role in ‘back-end’ collection development through selection of individual titles in both print and electronic formats. The university also has a new president, Rev. Robert A. Dowd, CSC.

Seattle Pacific University - Is undergoing drastic budget cuts, resulting in losing at least 40% of their faculty, and it may be a struggle to survive in the long haul. On a positive note, the seminary dean has shown an interest in the Catholic tradition of praying.

Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology - Enrollment is steady. An interim rector has been appointed for one year until the new permanent rector is ready to serve. The library is getting new, low-E windows with UV protection, after years of requests.

St. Joseph’s Seminary - Is preparing for its ATS accreditation visit. The library lost one employee, by transfer to another department, but is expected to be able to replace the position. The propaedeutic and discipleship stage students have been moved to the seminary campus, as well as the supporting library collections. Connor has been busy integrating philosophy collections into the main collection.

Mt. Angel Abbey - The integration of the propaedeutic students has gone well. They will have a new rector, Rev. Jeff Eirvin, beginning in August. The head of technical services is retiring, and the seminary is paying for the archivist to complete her MLS to take on the position. A search for a new archivist will be forthcoming. There are plans to do some remodeling, particularly the computer area, and architects are being consulted.

Mount St. Mary’s Emmitsburg - The library migrated to ExLibris’ Alma/Primo/Rapido in January and has been very well pleased with the system. They have been working on several grant-funded projects: a 10K NEH grant to support the preservation of the rare book collection, as well as two rounds of funding from ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities grants totaling 30K. These funds are being used for capital building improvements: new furniture and improving accessibility.

Catholic International University - Just went live with its new name, changed from Catholic Distance University. They are offering several new degrees, with subsequent budget doubling to support the programs. They are looking for a bilingual librarian who can also do writing support.

Loyola Marymount University - There is a new dean of the Liberal Arts college, and the school is gradually updating and remodeling the campus. The adjunct professors have voted to unionize. The digital special collections “display” changes monthly - check it out!

Atla - Natalie Whitaker has been hired as the new membership coordinator for Atla. Barnaby’s webinar article on Catholic Church documents will be published shortly in the Catholic Library World.

Catholic Theological Union - An update was provided by Derek Rieckens, since he started his new position with Baker & Taylor only in the last couple of months. The staff has been reduced to three, and the weeding of the collection continues, with at least a sixth gone.

Tony Amodeo - Has been weeding his personal collection, and is looking for places he can contribute them. Members suggested checking out Better World Books, Windows Booksellers, and the Theological Book Network.