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