CRRA

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

  • Mark Shelton, Chair, College of the Holy Cross (Feb 2024 – Jun 2026)
  • Caroline Fuchs, St. John’s University (Apr 2024 – Jun 2027)
  • Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology (Feb 2024 – Jun 2026)
  • Jean McManus, University of Notre Dame (Feb 2024 – Jun 2025)
  • Dr. Brian Morin, Mount Angel Abbey (Feb 2024 – Jun 2027)
  • Leslie O’Neill, Catholic Historical Research Center of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (Feb 2024 – Jun 2026)
  • Marianne Ryan, Loyola University Chicago (Feb 2024 – Jun 2025)
  • Gillian Harrison Cain, Staff Liaison

YEAR IN REVIEW

In October 2023, CRRA became a program of Atla and its members welcomed as Atla members. CRRA and Atla had a history of collaborating, including working on joint grant proposals, developing programming for ALA Annual conferences, cross-promoting professional development events, and offering free or reduced registration to each other’s membership.

Increasingly, the stand-alone nature of CRRA had presented challenges in capacity, including in securing grant funding, marketing CRRA resources, and recruiting new members to help sustain its mission. As CRRA began to explore possibilities of working with a new strategic partner, Atla was a logical choice. Both organizations have a strong history of providing theological resources to individuals, institutions, and scholars in the field of religious studies as well as professional development and networking opportunities for librarians supporting the study of religion and theology.

A task force with members of both organizations was formed and developed a plan for CRRA to become a program within Atla, retaining a Catholic identity, offering Catholic-focused programming and networking for libraries, archives, and other institutions; and ensuring the suite of scholarly resources developed by CRRA continues to be openly available.

In February 2024, the CRRA Program Committee met for the first time to begin their work together, advising Atla on matters related to existing CRRA projects as well as helping to develop a strong community within Atla that is ready to explore new opportunities together. This committee also directs the work of various sub-committees focused on specific aspects of the CRRA Program.

The committee met monthly throughout the remaining months of FY24, with an in-person meeting held prior to Atla Annual 2024 in June. Several members of the committee presented a program at conference entitled “CRRA: The Past, the Present, and the Future” outlining the history of the two organizations, the work of coming together, and expressing the potential of the program.Several of the committee members enrolled in the “Critical Information Literacy” class through the Library Juice Academy in July 2024. They hope to bring the information learned to their work in the committee.