Library becomes faith storehouse

The Lull Resource Library, located at the Diocesan Pastoral Center in Albany, houses up to 1,000 out-of-print and rare books on the Catholic faith.

When the library opened in 1991, the books were used strictly as resource materials. Now, they are available on a lending basis.

In addition to the rare books, periodicals and Vatican documents, the library also contains new books about Catholicism.

Range of subjects

Carole Romanini, librarian, has re-catalogued the entire collection, which is part of the diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis.

The categories include adult catechesis, spirituality, prayer, family life, morality, saints, ecumenism, evangelization, social teaching, sacraments and the Bible.

"We also have a large, diverse youth ministry section that includes books on youth retreats, teaching youth how to pray, social justice issues for that age-group and even peer pressure issues," she said.

Older items

The oldest document in the collection is Pope Pius X's 1907 encyclical, "Pascendi Dominici Gregis," which cannot be taken out of the library. There is also a book on the Catholic pioneers of America, which dates to 1882.

The library "contains virtually every document by John Paul II that was published by the U.S. Catholic Conference as well as hard-to-find copies of papal letters and encyclicals by John XXIII and Paul VI," Ms. Romanini said.

"We've established the borrowing time as two weeks, but the books can be renewed," she added. "We're also accepting donations of books in good condition. We're looking for newer publications. We hope to eventually have the library database online."

(The Lull Resource Library, established 15 years ago, is named after Mark Lull, a catechetical leader and youth minister whose personal book collection was extensive. His widow donated it to the Albany Diocese. The library is open Monday-Friday, 1-4:30 p.m. Call Carole Romanini at 453-6644.)

(10/5/06)