The Catholic Library World Editorial Committee has selected Sarah Burke Cahalan and Kayla Harris, both of the Marian Library at the University of Dayton, as the recipients of the John Brubaker Memorial Award for 2020-2021. They are honored for their article, “Mary, Undoer of Knots: Unraveling Best Practices for Unwanted Donations and Deaccessioned Collection Items in a Catholic Library,” which appeared in the September 2020 issue of Catholic Library World. Cahalan and Harris reveal how the traditional library practice of deaccessioning takes on a decidedly different character in a Catholic library because of the potentially scared nature of some objects. Mindful of the stipulations of canon law demanding reverent treatment of sacred objects, the authors consider how librarians in Catholic institutions should dispose of unwanted items that might have been blessed and dedicated to divine worship. Cahalan and Harris consider materials such as books, holy cards, postcards, statues, sacred art, and sacramentals, acknowledging that their sacred nature may not always be known with certainty. They also suggest appropriate methods of disposal, be it donation, repurposing, respectful burning, or burial. For their guidance with addressing a challenge unique to Catholic libraries, the Catholic Library World Editorial Committee is please to bestow the John Brubaker Memorial Award to Sarah Burke Cahalan and Kayla Harris.

Congratulations to CLA’s 2021 St. Katharine Drexel Award Recipient, Matthew Kelly. The St. Katharine Drexel Award Presentation will be held during the CLA Virtual Conference on April 30, 2021 via Zoom from 1:15 – 2:15 pm Eastern.

The St. Katharine Drexel Award was established in 1966 under the title Certificate of Merit and renamed in 2002. Presented by the High School and Young Adult Library Services Section through the St. Katharine Drexel Award Committee, the St. Katharine Drexel Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to the growth of high school librarianship.

Matthew Kelly was born in Sydney, Australia. He has dedicated his life to helping people and organizations become the-best-version-of-themselves. Kelly is a New York Times bestselling author, an internationally acclaimed speaker, and a business consultant to some of the world’s largest and most admired companies. He is the author of more than twenty books, which have sold more than forty million copies and have been published in more than thirty languages. To learn more, visit: www.MatthewKelly.com

Congratulations to CLA’s 2021 Aggiornamento Award Recipient, the Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA). The Aggiornamento Award Presentation will be held during the CLA Virtual Conference on April 30, 2021 via Zoom from 10:30 – 11:30 am Eastern. Jennifer Younger, CRRA Executive Director, and Pat Lawton, CRRA Digital Projects Librarian, will be accepting the award on behalf of CRRA at the 2021 CLA Conference.

The Aggiornamento Award, established in 1980, is presented by the Parish and Community Library Services Section through the Aggiornamento Award Committee. It is awarded annually in recognition of an outstanding contribution made by an individual or an organization for the renewal of parish and community life in the spirit of Saint John XXIII (1881-1963).

About CRRA

The CRRA is a nonprofit (501c3) membership alliance of academic, diocesan and religious congregation libraries and archives sharing a mission "to provide enduring global access to Catholic research resources in the Americas." CRRA achieves this by creating the freely available portal to Catholic research resources with attention to unique and uncommonly held materials, supporting an extensive range of guides to exploring topics of Catholic interest, developing the digital collection of Catholic newspapers, and facilitating the sharing of resources and scholarship. CRRA achieves its mission through the leadership and expertise of its members and partners.

About Jennifer Younger

Jennifer became executive director in 2010 after serving as the Edward H. Arnold Director of Hesburgh Libraries, University of Notre Dame, one of the eight co-founders of CRRA. She previously served in various leadership positions in academic libraries. Together with her colleague, Pat Lawton, she will accept the Aggiornamento Award at the CLA 2021 Spring Virtual Conference on behalf of CRRA.

Jennifer’s experience positioned her well for leading CRRA. Her experience in academic libraries led to many successful partnerships with faculty, students, benefactors, and campus leaders around excellence in mission, and the founding of a new statewide consortium - the Academic Libraries of Indiana. She has served on governing boards for several associations, was named Alumnae of the Year in 2010 by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies for her vision in leadership and navigation of politically charged waters to create collaborative solutions to improve library systems and outreach.

About Pat Lawton

Pat currently serves as Special Projects Librarian and Head of the Digital Access Projects and Outreach Services at the Hesburgh Libraries of the University of Notre Dame and as Digital Projects Librarian for the Catholic Research Resources Alliance. She is an active member of the Catholic Library Association and Archival Resources for Catholic Collections. Pat has presented and published widely on collaborative and digital initiatives, with a special focus on ensuring the survival and discovery of religious archives.

Prior to her tenure at Notre Dame, Pat was a faculty member in the School of Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh and taught cataloging, the organization of information, and knowledge management courses online and face to face for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She holds a BA in English and the MLS from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

With over forty-three million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.

As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."

As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."

Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."

Congratulations to CLA’s 2021 Mary A. Grant Volunteer Service Award Recipient, Pat Lawton. The Mary A. Grant Volunteer Service Award Presentation will be held during the Business Meeting at the CLA Virtual Conference on April 30, 2021 via Zoom from 4:45 – 5:00 pm Eastern.

The Mary A. Grant Volunteer Service Award was established in 1996 and is presented by the CLA Executive Board in recognition of outstanding volunteer service to the Association by a CLA member.

Pat currently serves as Special Projects Librarian and Head of the Digital Access Projects and Outreach Services at the Hesburgh Libraries of the University of Notre Dame and as Digital Projects Librarian for the Catholic Research Resources Alliance. She is an active member of the Catholic Library Association and Archival Resources for Catholic Collections. Pat has presented and published widely on collaborative and digital initiatives, with a special focus on ensuring the survival and discovery of religious archives.

Prior to her tenure at Notre Dame, Pat was a faculty member in the School of Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh and taught cataloging, the organization of information, and knowledge management courses online and face to face for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She holds a BA in English and the MLS from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.