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Szoka Library offers vast collection for learning

Photos and Story By Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 4, 2004

DETROIT – Fr. Marc Gawronski can remember climbing up to the archive room in the library of St. John's Provincial Seminary in Plymouth Township.

The lighting was bad, and the stacks were overcrowded.

"Things were very close together," Fr. Gawronski said, recalling his time at the seminary in the 1980s. "You couldn't have more than one person looking in the same tight area."

The Edmund Cardinal Szoka Library changed all that. The library was established in 1988 when St. John's Provincial Seminary's library merged with that of Sacred Heart. The result was, and still is, the largest collection of theological resources in Michigan – both Catholic and otherwise.

The rare book room contains various artifacts from Church history, including these spectacles worn by Fr. Gabriel Richard.

"We are a major research collection," said Karen Mehaffy, the library's director since 1994. "Part of the mission of the library is to provide an ongoing resource for philosophy and theology to the entire metro Detroit community."

The library that bears Cardinal Szoka's name also bears a lot of the cardinal's influence, Mehaffy said—especially since Cardinal Szoka played a large role in making Sacred Heart into a major seminary.

"He was very instrumental in making the decision, "she said. "They wanted to name something after him. They didn't want to change the identity of the seminary, so they decided to name the library after him."

A large metal sculpture of Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka, by local artist Marian Owczarski, sits atop a file cabinet in the library's reference section.

It may have been an apt decision. Mehaffy said the cardinal – who still has a residence in the seminary building – has taken a great interest in the library.

He both uses it and has referred clergy to it, even from halfway around the globe.

"Not only is he our namesake," Mehaffy said, "but he is definitely a spiritual benefactor…He has also been a benefactor in providing us a lot of his personal mementos and photographs for our archives."

Among personal items, Cardinal Szoka has given the library his eighth grade report card from St. Michael Elementary School in Muskegon (he received an "A" in religion), photo albums and a commencement program from his graduation from Sacred Heart Seminary.

The library serves many in the Detroit area, including archdiocesan priests, protestant ministers, catechists and college students. It has two main purposes, Mehaffy said: to aid the intellectual pursuit of priests and laypeople in training, and to help clergy in writing their sermons and preparing programs for parishes.

"I used to use it as just a quiet place to go to in between classes," said Eric Sorensen, a parishioner at St. Thecla in Clinton Township who's studying for the diaconate and a graduate degree in pastoral studies at the seminary. "But the resources you have here you just can't find anywhere else. That's very advantageous."

When it was built, the library made use of a large room underneath the seminary chapel. Off the bat, it impressed those who, like Fr. Gawronski, had trouble turning around in St. John's library.

"The first time I walked in, my reaction was 'Wow!'" said Fr. Gawronski, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Rockwood, who still uses the library regularly for homiletic and teaching resources. "It was well-lit and spacious and very welcoming… It was a great vision on the part of Cardinal Szoka and the architects, to turn a space that wasn't used into a place the whole archdiocese could use for learning and growth."

Since its inception, the library has become more usable than ever, too. In addition to serving seminary students and parish priests, the library sells 150 to 350 memberships per year at $35 a piece.

It's also added features like a rare book room, an online catalogue that contains 96 percent of the library's titles, an interactive Web site that contains the catalogue, public terminals used to sift through CDs and online databases, and a computerized self check-out machine.

"It's a great resource theologically," said Auxiliary Bishop John Quinn, who uses the library to keep up on the latest articles and materials for teaching at the seminary. "It's a great resource on many aspects of my work as a bishop. I'm able to do a quick review on all the latest articles and materials.

"I'd encourage others to take advantage of it. It's available to everyone."