Kino Institute Celebrates New Library at Diocesan Headquarters

By: J.D. Long-García
The Catholic Sun

The Kino Institute’s library opened its doors for the first time at its new location late last month.

After a two-month long move, the library will be serving Catholics and students of all faiths at the Diocesan Pastoral Center in downtown Phoenix.

“To have a library—that in a special way helps us to understand the Bible, the Word of God—is a major blessing to us,” Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said at the February 23 blessing. “Others will come, as they do constantly here, and these books will help us to have a greater love for the Word of God.”

	Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, Kino Institute founder Father Ernie Larkin, OCarm, and Barry Sargent, Kino director, celebrate the dedication of the new Kino library following a blessing at its new location at the Diocesan Pastoral Center Feb. 23.

The bishop gave thanks to Carmelite Father Ernie Larkin and his order for founding the Kino Institute and its library in 1972.

“The library was one of two very small offices in the rectory of Saint Agnes Parish,” Father Larkin recalled. “There was a bookcase in there, and some of us brought our books down and put them on the bookcase.”

From these humble beginnings, the library has grown quite a bit, he added.

Thousands of books in the library, Father Larkin explained, came from a Carmelite library in Washington, DC. The administrators of his order decided to unite two Carmelite schools in the nation’s capital and the books from one of the schools became available.

“It was a very reasonable amount that the Carmelites asked: a dollar a volume,” Father Larkin said. “For 10,000 volumes it was $10,000.”

Over time, people gave their own collections to the library and the institute itself purchased a lot of books, he said. Currently, the library holds more than 25,000 resources.

“It is absolutely wonderful that we have—right here in our midst—a source of study and information that is very adequate for most of our needs,” Father Larkin said. “This library should be a Mecca for Catholics, for our brother Protestants and all people in this area.”

The library—the only Catholic theological library in the region—has nearly 1,000 resources in the Spanish language, said librarian Sister Darcy Peletich, OSF.

“It’s a hidden treasure and I wish everyone in the diocese knew we were here,” Sister Darcy said. She also noted that the library would be more convenient for Catholics throughout the diocese at its new location.

First-time registration for a library card costs $10; annual renewal costs $5.

“This library serves us in our mission of evangelization,” said Barry Sargent, the director of the Kino Institute. “It helps us know where we’ve been and where we’re going.”

For information, call (602) 354-2311 or visit the Web at www.diocesephoenix.org/ kino/library.asp.

Copyright 2006, “The Catholic Sun,” the newspaper of the Diocese of Phoenix, reprinted with permission.