Friends of the College of St. Catherine Libraries

What's New?

Previous Friends Events

Friends Executive Committee

How to Join the Friends

Photo gallery

Welcome to the Friends of the Libraries Homepage!!

At the College of St. Catherine Libraries, we know that we have Friends all over the Twin Cities and across the United States. The information on this page is intended for YOU, whose memberships have contributed so greatly to the Libraries' growth.

The Friends of the College of St. Catherine Libraries was established in 1996 to provide funds for the purchase of materials to enrich the collections of the Library and to provide materials we could not afford were it not for the Friends. Through membership contributions and additional donations, Friends provide thousands of dollars annually for purchase of new books, and help support the four library endowment funds. We appreciate your continuing support!

Questions and comments about these pages and the Friends organization may be sent to Carol P. Johnson, Director of the College of St. Catherine Libraries by email to cpjohnson@stkate.edu or by calling (651) 690-6650.

What's New?

The College of St. Catherine Alumnae Association breakfast at PLA

All CSC librarian alumnae are invited for a breakfast gathering during the Public Library Association’s (PLA) national conference in Minneapolis! Friday, March 28, from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the Minneapolis Hilton (Salon E), 1001 Marquette Ave., 612-376-1000.
More details on the breakfast

Fall 2007 Annual Fundraising Gala
The College of St. Catherine Friends of the Libraries had its annual gala celebration Thursday, October 18 in Derham Hall, room 409, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Tim Ternes, from the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library of Saint John's University, gave a presentation of the making of The Saint John's Bible, the first handwritten illuminated Bible in the modern era.

Previous Friends Events

Spring 2007 "Thank You" Reception

This year's theme was A Passion for Collecting. We had three speakers: Jean Cameron, artist and scholar, who has donated early printed English Bibles to the Library; Karen Nelson Hoyle, curator of the Kerlan Collection and donor of the award winning chhilren's books to the Ruth Sawyer Collection; and Dr. Mary Wagner who acquainted us with Ruth Sawyer and her connection to the College of St. Catherine.

Fall 2006 - 10th Anniversary Gala Celebration of the Friends of the Libraries Thursday, October 26, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Featured speaker was Catherine Friend, Minnesota author of "Hit by a Farm: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barn."

Spring 2006 "Thank You" Reception
The annual Spring Reception is a special event thanking our donors and Friends for their contribution and participation. The Friends of the Libraries invites all to this years event on Thursday, May 4th from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Sr. Marie Inez Johnson Faculty Study, Room 123 located in the Library. The keynote speaker was Judith Gamboni, Assistant Professor, Radiology gave a PowerPoint presentation entitled "Lions, Hippos, and Crocs — Oh My! A Library in Tanzania!"

Fall 2005 — 8th Annual Fundraising Gala
The Friends of the Libraries celebrated their 8th fundraiser, Thursday, October 13, 2005 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. in the Sr. Marie Inez Johnson Faculty Study, room 123. The College of St. Catherine has begun the process of seeking ALA accreditation for their MLIS graduate program. The Friends have set a goal to increase the Sr. Marie Inez Johnson Endowment, supporting the purchase of materials in library in information sciences, to the $100,000 level.

KJ Erickson was our guest speaker. She is the winner of the annual 2005 Minnesota Book Awards in Popular Fiction. Her book Alone at Night is the fourth mystery published by KJ Erickson in her series featuring Detective Marshall "Mars Bahr" and his sidekick, Nettie Frish.

The event began with appetizers and the evening ended with the traditional drawing for the fabulous door prizes.

Spring 2005 "Thank You" Reception
The annual Spring Reception is a special event thanking our donors and Friends for their contribution and participation. The reception was held Thursday, April 14th from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Library Faculty Study, Room 123 . The keynote speaker was Cecilia Konchar Farr, Professor of English. Dr Farr is the author of Reading Oprah: How Oprahs' Book Club Changed the Way America Reads. The rooom was filled with Cecilia's energy and laughter. Refreshments were served! Door Prizes were won!

Fall 2004 — 7th Annual Fundraising Gala (photo gallery)
The Friends of the Libraries celebrated their 7th fundraiser, Thursday, October 28, 2004 from 5 - 7:30 p.m. in the Library Quiet Study, room 123. Prior to the gala, a dedication of the MLIS Student Lounge took place. Two plaques were placed in the lounge area.

Afterwards, appetizers and socializing took place 5:30 - 6:15 p.m. The featured speaker was Minnesota author Lorna Landvik, author of Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. It's about book clubs — the camaraderie, the friendship and the lifelong bond created among women. It is a testament to the power of women, the sisterhood and the support they can give to each other through the joys and terrors of life.  There were more fabulous door prizes than ever!

Spring 2004 "Thank You" Reception
The annual Spring Reception is a special event thanking our donors and Friends for their contribution and participation. This year's reception was held Thursday, April 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the newly renovated Coeur de Catherine Library, Room 123. The keynote speaker was Ed Sellner, Ph. D., Professor of Pastoral Theology and Spirituality at the College. Dr. Sellner discussed his most recent book Stories of the Celtic Soul Friends. He is a popular speaker on mentoring and Celtic spirituality. Also, he leads pilgrimages to the holy places of the Celtic saints in Ireland, Brittany in France, Cornwall in England, and Galicia in Spain. Refreshments! Door Prizes!

Fall 2003 — 6th Annual Fundraising Gala (photo gallery)
The Friends of the Libraries celebrated their 6th fundraiser, Thursday, October 23, 2003 from 5 - 7 p.m. in the new Coeur de Catherine. The event marked the third and final year that the proceeds from the fundraiser would be set aside for the Library Learning Commons fund. Our featured speaker was Minnesota author Erin Hart, author of the novel Haunted Ground. Hart read excerpts from her novel and spoke in great length about the mystery of the bog people. Hart's novel is the first in a planned series of crime novels set primarily in Ireland, and revolving around the subjects of archaeology, forensics, history, traditional music and folklore.

Spring 2003 "Thank You" Reception
The annual Spring Reception is a special event thanking our donors and Friends for their contribution and participation. This year's reception was held Wednesday, May 7, 2003 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Library Instruction, room 110 of the new Coeur de Catherine. The keynote speaker was Kathi Rickert who worked from January until May 2002 as one of two librarians for the shipboard education program Semester at Sea. Kathi showed slides of the shipboard library, the S.S. Universe Explorer and the 10 ports she visited during her exciting four month voyage. We heard about the challenges of serving 600 college students and 35 faculty while thousands of miles from land. Door prizes. Refreshments were served!

Fall 2002 — 5th Annual Fundraising Gala (photo gallery)
The Friends of the Libraries celebrated their 5th Annual Fundraising Gala on Wednesday, October 23, 2002. Due to the construction around the Library, this year's event was held in Derham Hall. Our featured speaker was Susan Davis Price, the well known author of Minnesota Gardens. Susan talked about her books and research on Minnesota gardening history. The topic Growth and Growing was appropriate to this year's theme. We had great food, stimulating talk, and fantastic door prizes as we listened to the music of the Irish folk group — Foxglove. This musical trio consists of one of our Reference Librarians, Amy Shaw who played the flute. The other members are Neil Brock with whistles and concertina, and Brian Haskell on the guitar.

People arrived early to take the tour of the beautiful Coeur de Catherine building site and pay a last nostalgic visit to the old library in its pre-renovation state. Coeur de Catherine is rapidly becoming a visible presence on campus slated for opening in May 2003 with a completion of the project in May 2004.

Spring 2002 "Thank You" Reception
The annual Spring Reception is a special event thanking our donors and Friends for their contribution and participation. This year's reception was held Thursday, April 18, 2002, from 5 to 7p.m. in the Library's S. Marie Inez Johnson Faculty Study. The keynote speaker was Renee Reed who has worked at the Minneapolis Public Library since 1980 and is currently the Head of the Sociology Department. Renee has visited various libraries in Europe, Mexico, and India. Her most recent visit was to Cuba and the Barbados. Renee spoke about her experiences and observations of libraries in Cuba. Door Prizes! Refreshments will be served!

Fall 2001 Fundraiser — Thanks for contributing to the Library Learning Commons Fund!
The Friends celebrated its 4th Annual Fundraising Gala in style Thursday evening, October 18, 2001, from 5 to 7 p.m. Our featured speaker was Larry Millett, architectural critic for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and author of numerous books, including Lost Twin Cities and Twin Cities, Now & Then. We learned about the future plans for the renovation and expansion of the new Library, currently called the Learning Commons. The Library Learning Commons fund has been established to support the furnishings of the MLIS student lounge in the new library building.

Spring 2001 Reception
The annual Spring Reception is a special event to thank our donors and Friends members for their contributions and participation. This year's reception was held Thursday, April 26, 2001, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Library's Sister Marie Inez Johnson Faculty Study.  Refreshments were served. The keynote speaker was Mary Treacy '63, known to many of us for her long service in libraries. Mary spoke about her recent job in the United Arab Emirates, where she helped start a digital library for the New University for Arab Women.

Fall 2000 Fundraiser — Thanks for the memories!
The Friends celebrated its 3rd Annual Fundraising Gala in style Thursday evening, October 19, 2000. Over $4,000 was raised for the new June Smith Fund! For highlights and photos of the event, please click here. Thank you to all who attended and helped plan this year's event!

Fall 2000 Fundraiser
This year's annual fundraising event was held Thursday, October 19, 2000 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Following the theme, An Evening with the Stars, the speaker was local author Sandra Benitez. Ms. Benitez' critically acclaimed novels include A Place Where the Sea Remembers (1993), set in Mexico, and Bitter Grounds (1997), which follows a Guatemalan family during turbulent times. Also, the new June Smith Fund for multicultural materials (see below) will be officially launched. The evening included refreshments, fabulous door prizes and a chance to socialize with other Friends. 

Viola Campion Honored
St. Paul First Seventh-day Adventist Church has named its library the Viola Campion Library. In a dedication ceremony held September 2, 2000, the church honored Ms. Campion, who earned a bachelor's degree from St. Kate's in 1934. In 1957, she went on to earn a master's in library science from St. Kate's, and more recently was a founding member of our own Friends of the Library. Illness forced her to retire from the Friends Executive committee in the past year.
    In its program, the church honored Ms. Campion as "this wonderful lady who organized and cataloged books and tapes, beginning in 1987. We honor her love of education, other cultures and languages, her sharing [of] world travel experiences, her generosity, exuberance, positive outlook and faith in the Lord inspired by the daily challenges of life itself." Congratulations, Viola, our friend!

New Funds Announced

The Friends of the Library are pleased to announce a new fund which was established in the fall of 2001. The Library Learning Common Fund was established to furnish the MLIS student lounge in the Learning Commons. Over $8,000 in gifts and $3,500 in pledges have been raised in just four months.

The Friends of the Library are pleased to announce a new fund which opened for donations effective June 1, 2000. The June Smith Fund is named after a long time, highly influential teacher in the college's Library and Information Science program. In honor of Ms. Smith's extensive work and commitment to bringing library services to American Indians, contributions to the fund will be used to purchase materials for the Library's general collection on the topic of multiculturalism.

February 28, 2000
Sr. Marie Inez Johnson Endowment fully funded! Friends president Roseanne Byrne announced that the Friends have reached its goal and have raised the $25,000 needed to establish the Library endowment honoring S. Marie Inez Johnson, CSJ. This endowment will provide an annual income to purchase additional resources to support the Library and Information Science program collections. The Library is grateful for the generous support of its Friends.

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Friends Executive Committee

The members of the Friends of the College of St. Catherine Executive Committee are listed below.
They welcome your questions and comments by phone or by e-mail.

Melissa J. Brechon, President Work: (612) 448-9395 mbrechon@carverlib.org	Carol P. Johnson, Director of Libraries Work: (651) 690-6650 cpjohnson@stkate.edu
Shawn Swearingen, Vice President	Michele McGraw Work: (952) 847-5931 mmcgraw@hclib.org
Karen Harwood, Secretary Work: (651) 690-6653 klharwood@stkate.edu	Deb Rash Work: (952) 922-2609 drash@iconoculture.com
Roseanne Byrne (Schoch) Work: (651) 688-1532 roseanne.byrne@co.dakota.mn.us	Karen Stauber work: (612) 761-7194 karen.stauber@target.com
Sue Hayes work: (651) 690-6794 sfhayes@stkate.edu	Sue Walsh Work: (651) 704-2033 ext.2111 swalsh@rclreads.org
Adam Marsnik Work: (952) 487-8297 adam.marsnik@normandale.edu	Open Position

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