Carmelite Congress of Librarians Meet in France

Patrick McMahon, O.Carm., president of the International Carmelite Institute and director of the Carmelitana Collection in Washington, DC, and Patricia O’Callaghan, the librarian of that collection were among the twenty-four participants representing eighteen different libraries belonging to the Carmelite Order who met at Les Naudiers Conference Center in Nantes France from January 5-7th 2006.

Carmelitana Collection in Washington, DC

The meeting was convoked and chaired by Father Mark Attard, O.Carm., General Delegate for culture. This was the fourth meeting of Carmelite librarians over the past six years and for the first time libraries of the Italian, the Upper and Lower German, the Maltese, the Indonesian, the Arago-Valencia, and the Rio Provinces, as well as the Philippine Commissariat were represented along with two new libraries of the British Province. They joined representatives of the libraries of the Carmelitana Collection in Washington, the Polish, the Irish, and the Dutch Provinces as well as the libraries of Centro Internazionale Sant’Alberto (CISA) in Rome, the French Delegation, and Aylesford, England. The primary area of discussion centered on international cooperation in the sharing of resources as established libraries offered the newer collections both modern books and digital reproductions of rare sixteenth through eighteenth century publications. A plan for cooperation in acquisitions was also discussed and approved.

The Washington Library has pioneered much of the work that the other libraries are now taking up. Washington was the first Carmelite library to do an electronic catalogue of its collection in the Machine Readable Cataloguing (MARC) format, (a program widely used and recognized in the international level), which enables it to share information and resources with other libraries in the huge Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) cataloguing database. The Washington Collection is one of over ten thousand libraries worldwide that participate in OCLC and Washington’s 14,000 volumes are included in the over one billion titles in the OCLC database. Approximately forty requests for inter-library loans come to Washington each month as scholars search for resource material in researching Carmelite topics. Washington has been able to offer the other Carmelite libraries the opportunity to participate in OCLC and its advantages by sharing in its membership.

Washington was also among the first libraries to pioneer the project of microfilming and digitizing rare Carmelite books. Digital copies of old books are far more suitable for library use as they save wear and tear on the originals. They are particularly advantageous for tropical climates which are very injurious to old books. Washington has offered to make available to newer Carmelite libraries digital copies of any rare books in its collection.

The Carmelitana Collection in Washington was also acknowledged for its generous support of the Dutch and German provinces in compiling Monasticons, or histories of religious houses in those provinces. Washington provided the funds for microfilming and digitizing a large section of the Carmelite material in the Frankfurt State Archives. The microfilms were then put at the disposal of the scholars compiling these studies for six months before being sent to Washington where they have become part of the collection. The Washington Collection also provided the funds for the restoration of an invaluable eighteenth century catalogue of the library in the Carmelite priory in Krakow. In return the Collection received a digitized copy of this book which will enable scholars to research the intellectual resources of Polish Carmelites of the period. Only two other library catalogues of early Carmelite libraries are known to exist and they provide historians with invaluable information regarding intellectual life of the time. Money for these projects came from the Louis Herman and Susan Hamilton Rogge Fund which supports the extraordinary projects of the libraries. In addition to acquiring important resources for the Washington collection, these projects have given an important boost to research into the history of the Order internationally and fostered a spirit of cooperation among Carmelite scholars.

Approximately fifteen participants remained behind for a three day course for new librarians conducted by Edison Tinanbunam, O.Carm., of the Rome Carmelite Library, Judith Taylor of the Aylesford Library, and Patricia O’Callaghan of the Washington Collection. The Carmelites of Nantes were gracious in their hospitality and twice entertained the group in their center at Notre Dame de Lumières.