









































58

Roman Catholic
David Kriegh, St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, Convener
Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology, Secretary

MEMBERS PRESENT

• David Kriegh, St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, Convener
• Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology,  

Secretary
• Sr. Rebecca Abel, OSB, Catholic Distance University
• Mary Ann Aubin, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
• Jennifer Bartholomew, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of  

Theology
• Elyse Hayes, Seminary of the Immaculate Conception
• Ann Heinrichs, Catholic Theological Union
• Barnaby Hughes, Atla
• Br. Andew Kosmowski, North American Center for Marianist  

Studies
• Alan Krieger, University of Notre Dame
• Brian Morin, Mount Angel Abbey
• Philip O’Neill, Barry University
• Steve Perisho, Seattle Pacific University
• Betsy Polakowski, St. Paul Seminary
• Derek Rieckens, Catholic Theological Union
• Mary Sepulveda, Seattle University
• Connie Song, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology 

(Athenaeum)
• Stephen Sweeney, St. John Vianney Theological Seminary
• Kris Veldheer, Catholic Theological Union
• David Wuolu, St. John’s College
• Jennifer Younger, Catholic Research Resources Alliance

MEMBERS ABSENT

• Charles Bellinger, Brite Divinity School (TCU)
• Thomas Bender, Notre Dame Seminary
• Victoria Brennan, St. John’s Seminary



Denominational Group Meetings  59

• Kerrie Burn, Catholic Theological College
• Matina Ćurić, Bibliothèques Européennes de Théologie
• Jim Derksen, Newman Theological College
• Maria M. Garcia, Oblate School of Theology
• Fiona Holly, Conception Abbey and Seminary College
• James Humble, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary
• Daniel Kolb, Saint Meinrad Archabbey
• Melody Mazuk, Liturgical Institute, Ealing Abbey
• Noel McFerran, University of St. Michael’s College
• Ann Owen, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology
• Dora Rowe, Union Presbyterian Seminary
• Fr. John Martin Ruiz, OP, Dominican House of Studies
• Sr. Sandra Rutkowski, Lourdes University
• Alexis Weiss, Loyola Marymount University

AGENDA AND DISCUSSION

Opening prayer: Sr. Rebecca Abel, OSB
Welcome: David Kriegh (Convener)

1) Welcome and Brief Introductions
2) Approval of 2019 Minutes (no corrections or changes)
3) Old Business

a)  A. Presentation Roundup

• Jennie Bartholomew presented “Growing in Wisdom” as 
a Listen and Learn identity session on June 17.

• Derek Rieckens was part of a panel presentation entitled 
“Physical Collections and the 21st-century Library.”

• Stephen Sweeney ran the business meeting as president 
of Atla.

b)  CLA Update (Jack Fritts)

• The CLA has been doing online conferences for a couple 
of years, and has had a larger attendance than in-person 
ones. This year’s fall conference is Oct. 22 & 23, and the 
theme is “Mission-Driven Leadership in Faith-Based 
Libraries.” Plans are also underway for the 100th anni-
versary celebration next April.



60  A NNUA L Y E A RBOOK

c)  CRRA Update (Alan Krieger)

• The server for CRRA is now hosted at Andornot, a host-
ing service for libraries, archives, and museums in 
Vancouver, BC. The new administrator/troubleshooter is 
Steve LaPommeray. Ted Bergfelt, the Humanities librar-
ian at Duquesne University, has created several subject 
guides for the portal, resulting in a large increase in 
use. CRRA also upgraded VuFind as the search app. The 
Catholic News Archives now contains 17 titles and is on 
pace to easily match last year’s 56,000 users. CRRA also 
provides grant opportunities, acting as a partner, to help 
institutions obtain digitizing grants.

d)  Atla LibGuide Project

• Atla has asked the RC group to assist with curating a 
denominational LibGuide, which Atla will promote. As 
part of the discussion, it was determined that we do not 
want to duplicate what CRRA is doing, but that there 
are several areas in which we could contribute. Among 
these are: Vatican resources, curating items “born digi-
tal,” and/or the Church’s take on modern issues. Our best 
contribution might be to create a “best of” guide, curat-
ing links to some of the excellent LibGuides already 
created by member institutions. This type of project 
might supplant the older attempt to update the McCabe 
Guide to Catholic Reference Works, begun by Melody 
Layton McMahon and assisted by several members pres-
ent.

4) New Business

a)  Core Print Collections/Collaborative Weeding/Shared Print 
Discussion

• This discussion stemmed from several related agenda 
items submitted by members wanting to either weed 
responsibly (without tossing out a last copy) or who are 
looking for recommended core collections for either 
reference or main collections. At the college level, 
HathiTrust has already committed to not weeding their 
Catholica. OCLC Green Glass has been helpful to some 



Denominational Group Meetings  61

schools for evaluating overlap in collections with OCLC 
institutions.

• On the one hand, it might be useful to find a way to 
allow each other to see what’s being acquired by shar-
ing acquisitions lists, or perhaps create a shared print 
project among smaller libraries. Atla could help to set 
up a wiki for such projects. One of the points of discus-
sion centered on the scarcity of electronic access to 
some older, classic works that are useful to seminaries. 
It might be helpful to lobby publishers to make more of 
their print materials available as e-books. Members are 
asked to suggest core texts, and to see what has already 
been done with the McCabe project.

• As for the weeding, SCELC & Atla are working on nego-
tiating a steep discount on the GreenGlass product from 
OCLC for “micro” institutions, such as most members 
are. The Catholic Library Association might also collabo-
rate in this project, and CRRA is interested as well.

b)  Library Reopening Plans

• Libraries have been asked to share their plans via 
the Atla-RC list serve as appropriate. Among common 
threads: some form of “curbside pick-up” or drop-off; 
being prepared to pivot between in-person and quaran-
tined services; ordering more e-books; getting staff more 
mobile-ready; revamping spaces to comply with physi-
cal distancing; discussion of IP and security concerns.

c)  Transitions

• Ann Heinrichs has retired from CTU.
• Derek Rieckens has moved to CTU as the systems librar-

ian and archivist.
• David Kriegh left his position as library director of St. 

Patrick’s Seminary & University and is now head of 
Collections Management at Saint Mary’s College of Cali-
fornia.

• The Diocese of Buffalo has closed Christ the King Semi-
nary as part of its reorganization.

http://cathrefbooks.wikidot.com/contents


62  A NNUA L Y E A RBOOK

• In March 2020, it was announced that Seattle Univer-
sity’s School of Theology and Ministry is under review 
to sunset some graduate programs while also migrat-
ing some to the university’s larger graduate program 
curriculum. No action will be taken until it is approved 
by the Board of Trustees. STM worked to create new 
forms of programming that respond to growing interest 
in spirituality, interreligious dialogue, and the intersec-
tion of ministry with other professions and disciplines. 
Unfortunately, these efforts have not demonstrated a 
sufficient market for graduate education in these areas 
and have not been able to compensate for serious down-
ward trends in demand for more formal ministerial 
leadership education.

Closing Prayer: Br. Andrew Kosmowksi

SUMMARY

In light of events far beyond our control, our annual denominational 
meeting made its Zoom debut this year on June 29, 2020. While the 
unusual scheduling prevented some of our in-person regular attend-
ees from joining, we enjoyed seeing the new faces of those who 
have not been able to join us in the past. Following our customary 
introductions, we discussed old business, which included the usual 
affiliated association updates from CRRA and the CLA, plus further 
discussion on collaborative projects through Atla’s new LibGuides 
platform. There was a strong sentiment that these projects should 
aim to harness the best of what individual libraries have produced 
to be shared for the benefit of the whole Catholic library community. 
This led into our new business, where we discussed the increasing 
interest in both a shared print collection among Catholic theologi-
cal libraries to assist weeding projects as well as developing core 
collection lists to help identify resources that every library should 
hold. Other new business included a call to share reopening plans as 
these developed in the coming months, as these plans may include 
valuable advice not typically included in the plans of other library 
types and sizes. Finally, we noted any retirements, transitions, or 
other related news from our various institutions. Please note that 
some comments received in the chat have been incorporated into 
the minutes as recorded above.


