John Brubaker Award

The Executive Board of the Catholic Library Association established the John Brubaker Award (plaque and citation) in 1978 to recognize an outstanding work of literary merit, considered on the basis of its significant interest to the library profession which was published in Catholic Library World, the official journal of the Association.

The memorial award honors John Brubaker who served CLA as advertising representative for CLW for over twenty years until his death in 1977. A panel of judges selects the winning article from the volume of CLW previous to the year of the annual convention.

The first Brubaker award was presented at the 58th annual CLA Convention in Philadelphia, April 18, 1979. The winning article must be precise in its writing, free of ambiguity, orderly in its presentation of ideas, economical in expression, smooth in its presentation, considerate of its readers, original, and stimulating. Any author is eligible for consideration.

Zachary Lewis Receives the 2022-2023 John Brubaker Memorial Award

7/19/2023

The Catholic Library World Editorial Committee has selected Zachary Lewis, Student Success Librarian at the University of Dayton’s Roesch Library, as the recipient of the John Brubaker Memorial Award for 2022-2023. The award was established in 1978 to recognize an outstanding work of literary merit published in Catholic Library World. Lewis is recognized for his article, “Committing to the Common Good: Reframing Student Success Using Catholic Social Teaching,” which appeared in the September 2022 issue. Lewis moves beyond measures of academic achievement to take a more holistic view of student success. He begins with the University of Dayton’s Commitment to Community (C2C), which each student is required to pledge and sign. Lewis then shows how the C2C aligns with Catholic Social Teaching (CST) as outlined by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He further links CST with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices. In order to put these ideas and concepts into practice, Lewis describes his engagement with various campus communities, including BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) students, international students, and first-generation students. Lewis admits that “this more subjective outlook makes quantifying and assessing student success more difficult, but gauging students’ feeling of belonging and support, their sense of community and solidarity, and their understanding and acceptance of others’ differences could prove worthwhile. By incorporating social values into their work,” he concludes, “libraries can better align their goals with the mission of their universities, and set students up to succeed as people, not just as students.” For this creative application of CST to librarianship, the Catholic Library World Editorial Committee is pleased to bestow the John Brubaker Memorial Award on Zachary Lewis.
 

Past John Brubaker Award Winners

2021-2022: Sarah Burke Cahalan and Kayla Harris

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.

2020: David C. Miller

For his article, Armand-Gaston Camus: Catholic Scholar, Revolutionary, and Founder of the National Archives of France, which appeared in the December 2019 (vol. 90, no. 2) issue of Catholic Library World.

2019: Marty Miller

For her article, Sacred vs. Profane in The Great War: A Neutral's Indictment: Louis Raemaekers's Use of Religious Imagery in Adoration of the Magi and Our Lady of Antwerp, which appeared in the September 2018 (vol. 89, no. 1) issue of Catholic Library World.

2018: Kimberly Kowal and Seth Meehan

For their article, Partnerships on Campus: Roles and Impacts in Developing a New Online Research Resource at Boston College, which appeared in the September 2016 (vol. 87, no. 1) issue of Catholic Library World.

2017: Jillian M. Slater Ewalt

For her article, Archival Exhibits as Interdisciplinary Teaching Tools, which appeared in the September 2015 (vol. 86, no. 1) issue of Catholic Library World.

2016: Sandra Collins

For her article, A Wandering Aramean: ATLA and the Scholar of Eastern Christianity, which appeared in the September 2014 (vol. 85, no. 1) issue of Catholic Library World.

2015: Patrick J. Hayes

For his article, New Advances in Franciscan Studies: Gaining on the Poor Man of Assisi, which appeared in the September 2013 (vol. 84, no. 1) issue of Catholic Library World.

2014: Tatiana Nikolova-Houston

For her two articles on Slavic Medieval Manuscripts. Part I: Origins, Preservation, and Access, which appeared in Catholic Library World, vol. 83, no. 1 (September 2012) and Part II: Historical, Archival, and Aesthetical Value and Visibility, which was published in vol. 83, no. 2 (December 2012).

2013 Leslie Woodcock Tentler   

For her article, A Decidedly Personal Look at the Field: American Catholic History Today which appeared in the March 2012 issue of Catholic Library World. 

2012 Donald Beagle

For his article, Integrating Digital and Archival Sources in Historical Research: Recovering Lost Knowledge About a Catholic Poet of the Civil War, which appeared in the March 2011 issue of Catholic Library World.

2011 Fernanda Perrone

For her article, Whose History Is It? Doing Research in the Archives of Women's Religious Communities, which appeared in vol. 80, No. 1 (September 2009) of Catholic Library World.

2010 Paul M. Pearson 

For his article, Thomas Merton, Archivist which appeared in the December 2008 issue of CLW.

2009 Margaret M. McGuiness

For her article, American Catholic Studies: The Field and the Journal which appeared in the September 2007 issue of CLW.



2008 Carmine J. Bell



For her article, Libraries and Human Rights Education which appeared in the December 2006 issue of CLW.



2007 Malachy R. McCarthy



For his article, Navigating the Labyrinth: Understanding and Getting the Most from Catholic Archives, which appeared in the December 2005 issue of CLW.



2006 Vincent P. Tinerella



For his article, The American Catholic Effort to Preserve European Manuscript Collections after World War II, which appeared in the March 2005 issue of CLW.



2005 Helge Clausen



For his article, Miss d’Auchamp, the Catholic Library Association and Niels Steensen’s Library in Copenhagen, which appeared in the December 2003 issue of CLW.



2004 Herman A. Tavani



For his article, Information Wants to Be Shared: An Alternative Framework for Approaching Intellectual Property Disputes in an Information Age, which appeared in the December 2002 issue of CLW.



2003 Kathleen de la Peña McCook



For her article, Social Justice, Personalism, and the Practice of Librarianship, which appeared in the December 2001 issue of CLW.



2002 Brendan A. Rapple



For his article, The Learning Library, which appeared in the June 2001 issue of CLW.



2001 Reverend Thomas J. Shelley



For his article, Whatever Happened to Church History which appeared in the December 1999 issue of CLW.



2000 Ronald Patkus



For his article, Creating a Digital Archive of the Pre-Vatican Church in America, which appeared in the March 1999 issue of CLW.



1999 Patrick Metress



For his article, Indexing and Abstracting Catholic Periodicals, which appeared in the June 1998 issue of CLW.



1998 William Brace



For his article, The Changing World of Government Documents, which appeared in the December 1996 issue of CLW.



1997 Michael T. Krieger

For his article, Developing a Collection for Name Authority Work in Catholic Literature, which appeared in the September 1995 issue of CLW.



1996 Violet H. Harada and Margaret Nakamura

For their article, Information Searching Across the Curriculum: Literacy Skills for the 90’s and Beyond, which appeared in the October-December 1994 issue of CLW.

1992 Sheila S. Intner

For her article, The Technical Services: the Future is Now, the Future is Us, which appeared in the May-June 1991 issue of CLW.

1991 Mary E. Gallagher, SSJ

For her article, Daring Advocates, Formidable Adversaries, which appeared in the September-October 1989 issue of CLW.

1990 Maryilyn Berg Iarusso

For her article, How to Promote the Love of Reading, which appeared in the March-April 1989 issue of CLW.

1989 Maureen Kennedy, OP

For her article, Resourcing the Emerging Laity, which appeared in the July-August 1987 issue of CLW.

1988 Roy M. Gasnick, OFM

For his article, Ministry of the Word which appeared in the July-August 1986 issue of CLW.

1987 Margaret E. Chisholm

For her article, The Librarian As Educator, which appeared in the November-December 1985 issue of CLW.

1986 Milton Meltzer

For his article, Freedom and Peace: A Challenge, which appeared in the July-August 1984 issue of CLW.

1985 Melvin R. George

For his article, The Impact of Technology on Libraries, which appeared in the February 1984 issue of CLW.

1984 R. Brantley Cagle, Jr.

For his article, Reference Services to the Developmentally Disabled: Normalization of Access, which appeared in the February 1983 issue of CLW.

1983 Carolyn Harris

For her article, Brittle Books: A Way of Life, which appeared in the March 1982 issue of CLW.

1982 Henry Drennan

For his article, Libraries and Literacy Education, which appeared in the April 1981 issue of CLW.

1981 F. Wilfred Lancaster

For his article, The Future of the Librarian Lies Outside the Library, which appeared in the April 1980 issue of CLW.

1980 Lillian B. Wehmeyer

For her article, Media and Learning – Present and Future, which appeared in the November-December 1978 issue of CLW.

1979 Mary Margrabe

For her article, The Library Media Specialist and Total Curriculum Involvement, which appeared in the February 1978 issue of CLW.