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Jane Kaftan

Catholic Library World Book Reviewer

Share something about yourself not related to librarianship.

I live in Sandusky, Ohio, with my husband and our three children. The kids all go to our local Catholic school, and it was through their faith and education (and helping with their homework) that I learned enough about Catholicism to join the faith through RCIA in 2011.

When and why did you get involved in the CLA?

I joined CLA in 2014 after my first year of graduate school. Raising children, working, and going to school part time prevented me from contributing much in the first few years. I certainly made the time to devour every issue of Catholic Library World (CLW), learning more about library issues specific to the Catholic faith, as well as getting some excellent book recommendations from the reviews section.

How has being involved with the CLA been important to your professional development?

With demands of family life, I am currently not working. I volunteer at the local library and at our children’s school, and being able to review books for CLW has allowed me to stay in the game a bit, too. I enjoy providing busy librarians with information to help them make good decisions in their collection development. Eventually I will get back out there, and I think being a member of CLA and contributing to CLW will help me take that step when my family is ready.

Tell us about what inspired you to become a librarian, and a little bit about your career transition.

After I earned my undergraduate degree I worked in social work, mainly with children and families. After about ten years I joined a retail group and opened a children’s bookstore. It was a wonderful experience for several years, but one night I was lamenting the price of books to my husband. No kidding, I said to him, “I wish I could just have books for people that they could take home and enjoy then bring back to me for someone else to read.” He broke the news to me gently that it’s already been done, and we call them libraries. Thus, the seed was planted that I should seek a career in librarianship. 

You wrote the biography about Kate DiCamillo in this issue. How is your interest in the Regina Medal linked to your professional interests?

All you have to do is look at the long list of award winners and it is a “who’s who” in children’s literature: authors, illustrators, educators, and library advocates. Wherever my career takes me, it will not be far from children’s literature and the Regina medalists. It was a particular joy to write about Kate DiCamillo as this year’s winner, she is surely a favorite in our house.

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Priscilla Delgado

San Marcos, Texas

Describe your career as a librarian and where you work.

Share something about yourself not related to librarianship.

How does your faith inspire or fit in with your work?

When and why did you get involved in the CLA?

What has been your most rewarding experience with the CLA?

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Timothy Senapatiratne, PhD, MLIS

Reference Librarian, Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota

Describe your career as a librarian and where you work.

Share something about yourself not related to librarianship.

How does your faith inspire or fit in with your work?

When and why did you get involved in the CLA?

As a new member, what do you hope to bring to, and get out of the CLA?

What do you hope for the future of the CLA?

Kerry Weber Lynch is an executive editor of America, where she has worked since 2009. Kerry is the author of Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job (Loyola Press), which received a 2014 Christopher award, as well as awards from the Catholic Press Association and the Association of Catholic Publishers. Her writing and multimedia work have earned several awards from the Catholic Press Association, and in 2013 she reported from Rwanda as a recipient of Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship recognizing excellence in the Catholic media. She is a graduate of Providence College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. From 2004-2005 Kerry volunteered through the Mercy Volunteer Corps as a special-education teacher on the Navajo reservation in St. Michael's, Arizona. She has been a Mercy Associate since 2012. She a board member of the Ignatian Solidarity Network.

The latest issue of The Oliver Leonard Kapsner, O.S.B. Cataloging Bulletin is now available! Click here to view current and past issues.

Charlie Camosy is a theology professor at Fordham University in Bronx, New York. His work often focuses on the theme of “intellectual solidarity between political and ethical approaches which find conversation difficult.” He has exemplified this intellectual solidarity through his participation in founding an international conference for changing the image of abortion, as founder and co-director of the Catholic Conversation Project, as an editor and contributor for catholicmoraltheology.com, and as a board member of Democrats for Life. Furthermore, he is a part of the international group, Contending Modernities, that explores the possible methods of productive public interaction between Catholicism, Islam, and Secular Liberalism.

Charlie is also an award-winning author of four books: Too Expensive to Treat?: Finitude, Tragedy, and the Neonatal ICU; Peter Singer and Christian Ethics: Beyond Polarization; For Love of Animals: Christian Ethics, Consistent Action; and Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for a New Generation.

Camosy has published in numerous Catholic or religious periodicals such as Crux, National Catholic Reporter, and First Things, among others. That his work can be found in such a diverse array of journals makes it is clear that he speaks to Catholics of all theological and political leanings within the United States, a rare feat indeed in this age of polarization within the Church.

Born in Ottawa in 1948, Michael O’Brien is the author of twenty-eight books, including twelve novels, which have been published in fourteen languages and widely reviewed in both secular and religious media in North America and Europe.

His essays on faith and culture have appeared in international journals such as Communio, Catholic World Report, Catholic Dossier, Inside the Vatican, The Chesterton Review and others. For seven years he was the editor of the Catholic family magazine, Nazareth Journal.

He has given hundreds of public talks and lectures at universities and churches throughout Europe and North America, and has frequently appeared as a guest on television programs in several nations.

His biography, On the Edge of Infinity by Dr. Clemens Cavallin, has just been published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco.

Since 1970 he has also worked as a professional artist and has had more than 40 exhibits across North America. Since 1976 he has painted religious imagery exclusively, a field that ranges from liturgical commissions to visual reflections on the meaning of the human person. His paintings hang in churches, monasteries, universities, community collections and private collections throughout the world.

Michael O’Brien lives in Barry’s Bay, Ontario, where he is the Artist and Writer in Residence at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College. He and his wife Sheila have six children and eleven grandchildren.

Kate DiCamillo is the author of many books for young readers. Her books have been awarded the Newbery Medal (Flora & Ulysses in 2014 and The Tale of Despereaux in 2004); the Newbery Honor (Because of Winn-Dixie, 2001), the Boston Globe Horn Book Award (The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, 2006), and the Theodor Geisel Medal and honor (Bink and Gollie, co-author Alison McGhee, 2011; Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride, 2007). Many of DiCamillo’s main characters struggle with loss, but they also encounter characters who are joyful, wise, and loving. In a 2018 Horn Book review, professor emerita of children’s and young adult literature at Texas Woman’s University, Betty Carter, described DiCamillo’s books as possessing, “The overarching themes addressing forgiveness, love, friendship, acceptance, home, and family.” DiCamillo has written books for youth that foster a love of reading for all reading levels ranging from picture books to upper middle grade. Children of all ages are able to discover fantastic, imaginative stories that draw them into a world with which they can identify. A native of Florida, DiCamillo now lives in Minneapolis. After being appointed as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress in 2014, DiCamillo now serves as Ambassador Emeritus.

The Catholic Library Association is excited to announce Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P. as the 2019 Aggiornamento Award Recipient. Father Peter John Cameron, O.P., was ordained a Dominican priest in 1986. He grew up in Vernon, Connecticut. He holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology with a concentration in New Testament theology from the Dominican House of Studies, and a Master of Fine Arts Degree in playwriting from the Catholic University of America. He is an award-winning playwright, and the founder and artistic director of Blackfriars Repertory Theatre in New York City. From 1994 until 2018 Fr. Cameron taught homiletics at four seminaries: St. Joseph's Seminary—Dunwoodie, New York; Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, New York; the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, DC; and the Pontifical North American College in Rome. From 2001 to 2003, Fr. Cameron was the spiritual director of the Neumann Hall pre-theology program at Dunwoodie. Fr. Cameron is the author of ten books, including The Classics of Catholic Spirituality, Why Preach, Mysteries of the Virgin Mary, Made for Love--Loved by God, Novenas for the Church Year, and Jesus Present Before Me. He served two terms as the director of preaching for his Dominican province. Fr. Cameron is the founding editor-in-chief of Magnificat, where he worked from 1998-2018. Fr. Cameron now serves as the director of formation for Hard as Nails Ministries, a national evangelization apostolate. Fr. Martin will provide a recorded presentation accepting this honor at the Spring 2019 Virtual Convention.