









































59

Roman Catholic
David Kriegh, Saint Mary’s College of California, Convener and Kathy Harty, 
Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology, Secretary

MEMBERS PRESENT

• Jennifer Bartholomew, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of 
Theology

• Charles Bellinger, Brite Divinity School at TCU 
• Jack Fritts, Benedictine University
• Barnaby Hughes, Atla
• Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology,  

Secretary
• James Humble, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary
• Tom Kiser, St, Michael’s Abbey
• David Kreigh, Saint Mary’s College of California, Convener
• Alan Krieger, University of Notre Dame
• Brian Morin, Mt. Angel Abbey
• Betsy Polakowski, St. Paul’s Seminary at the University of St. 

Thomas
• Derek Rieckens, Catholic Theological Union
• Rev. John Ruiz, O.P., Dominican House of Studies
• John Shaffett, Shorter University
• Connie Song, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology
• Kris Veldheer, Catholic Theological Union
• Alexis Weiss, Loyola Marymount University
• Deb Winarski, Catholic Theological Union
• Sarah Woodford, The Vincent Library at St. Thomas More, Yale 

University



60  A NNUA L Y E A RBOOK

AGENDA

Opening prayer:  Fr. John Ruiz, O.P.

1) Welcome and Brief Introductions
2) Old Business

a)  A. Presentation Roundup
 1. The following presented at Atla 2021: 

• Kris Veldheer
• Charles Bellinger

b)  Atla LibGuide Project

• A subcommittee will investigate other denominational 
pages, discover whether there is a particular purpose 
for the Atla LibGuides, and suggest an outline or topical 
coverage for the Roman Catholic guide.

• Committee members: Brian Morin (Mt. Angel), James 
Humble (St. Charles Borromeo), John Shaffett (Shorter 
University), and Kathy Harty (Sacred Heart Seminary 
and School of Theology). Suggested interim report by 
Christmas.

c)  Core Print Collection Analysis/Collaborative Weeding/Print 
Retention

• There was continued conversation about whether a 
project to analyze the RC collections, particularly to 
discover both a core collection and specialty collections, 
would be useful. Issues included scope of institutions 
(focus on geographically local or peer institutions?), 
costs, process, etc. Greenglass from OCLC is often used 
in such projects. Does Atla offer any kind of guidance or 
grants for offsetting costs?

• Kris Veldheer will do some initial legwork in the fall, 
after a reminder from David Kriegh.



Denominational Group Meetings  61

d)  Library Reopening Plans

• Libraries shared their various coping strategies from 
the pandemic as well as precautions or procedures for 
re-opening in the fall to whatever extent their local insti-
tution decides.

• Commonalities included: the usual masks/distancing/
cleaning; various forms of “curbside” pickup or dropoff; 
more intensive use of scanning; shifts to acquiring more 
digital resources; flexible staffing.

e)  Catholic Library Association Update

• The spring conference was held in late April, and plans 
are underway for the fall conference. The deadline for 
proposals has been extended, so if anyone is interested 
in presenting, please contact CLA.

• Kathy Harty will resend the information.
• Jack Fritts is now the past-president of CLA. Kathryn 

Shaughnessy, of St. John’s University, is now president. 
Kathy Harty is a member-at-large on the board of direc-
tors for CLA. Br. Andrew Kosmowski, SM, is the vice-
president/treasurer.

• Plans are underway for developing a robust student 
membership section as well as continuing education 
geared towards elementary and high school librarians, 
who may not have the same access as academic librar-
ians. Among proposals are allowing library students 
to publish articles in the Catholic Library World so that 
they have publications on their resumé, and offering 
some non-workshop education such as webinars or 
short-term, focused sessions on issues that very small or 
volunteer-run libraries have.

• CLA is also in the process of refreshing and updating 
older publications.



62  A NNUA L Y E A RBOOK

f) CRRA Update

• Jennifer Younger has tendered her intention to retire, 
but will remain until a new Executive Director is 
appointed.

• The subject guides and digital exhibits within CRRA 
are now searchable and more visible in the Catholic 
Research Portal.

• CRRA was awarded the Aggiornamento Award from the 
Parish & Community Libraries section of the Catholic 
Library Association in April.

• The Catholic News Archive is the largest source for 
digitized Catholic newspapers and is continually grow-
ing. There was a 20,000 increase in researchers over the 
previous year, for a total of 78,000 users in 2020.

3) New Business

a)  Origins

• Origins has ceased publication. There was some conster-
nation over this within the group, as Origins had a much 
better search engine than the Vatican website, and it 
often contained documents that were more obscure and 
difficult to find, such as a local bishop’s pastoral letter, 
or a nuncio’s address. There was some question as to 
what the Catholic News Service is planning to do with 
the archival collection, and if they have any other plans 
related to this.

• David Kriegh will contact them.

b)  The New Atla Communities Site

• Atla is transitioning all groups to the new platform and 
away from email lists. As information is released to 
conveners, David Kriegh will pass along to the RC group.



Denominational Group Meetings  63

c)  Transitions
 1. Retirements:

• Mt. Angel – Victoria Ertelt retired and Dr. Brian Morin 
was appointed the new director. Welcome to the group 
Brian!

• St. Paul Seminary, at the University of St. Thomas – Curt 
LeMay retired in the fall, and Betsy Polakowski has been 
the interim director. A position announcement will be 
posted in the near future.

• St. Charles Borromeo – Cait Kokolus, former library 
director and Vice-President for Assessment, will be retir-
ing in October, but will remain as a part-time advisor 
during the move to a new campus.

 2. Other:

• Immaculate Conception Seminary closed, and Elyse 
Hayes was retired.

• Derek Rieckens is now the editor for the Atla Annual 
Proceedings, following the resignation of Kris Veldheer 
due to her election to the Atla board.

• And finally, in a non-violent continuation in power, 
David Kriegh will once again be our convener next year. 
However, should anyone feel like they’d like to begin a 
more active role in the group by working as convener, 
please contact him.

Closing Prayer: Dr. Brian Morin



64  A NNUA L Y E A RBOOK

OTHER

On June 28, the Roman Catholic denominational group met for the 
second consecutive year in a virtual forum. Our agenda was heavy 
on old business, picking up a few conversations from 2020 about 
various collaborative initiatives that may be best facilitated by our 
Atla affiliation. These included developing content for an Atla-hosted 
LibGuide, and assessing collections to offer more responsive print 
collections among our members in the face of diminishing mate-
rials budgets. We also recognized the work of our members who 
presented at the most recent conference, and heard updates from 
the Catholic Library Association and Catholic Research Resources 
Alliance, as well as shared our own reopening plans in the wake of 
the pandemic. 

Our new business dealt with the sudden cessation of publication 
of Origins, a familiar publication to most Catholic librarians, and a 
look ahead to the new Atla Communities site for our group, which 
is designed to replace and modernize this group’s regular forum. 
Finally, we shared news from our own institutions about retirements 
and other career transitions. We look forward to next year, when we 
will (finally) meet in person, share a bottle of wine, and enjoy dinner 
at one of Baltimore’s finer dining establishments, God willing.

2020-2021 GROUP: [pictured, left to right] David Kriegh, John Shaffett, John Ruiz, 
Derek Rieckens, Jack Fritts, Tom Kiser, Kris Veldheer, James Humble, Jennifer 
Bartholomew, Connie Song, Charles Bellinger, Alexis Weiss, Barnaby Hughes, Betsy 
Polakowski, Alan Krieger, Kathy Harty, Brian Morin, Deb Winarski, Sarah Woodford


