CT PHOTOS BY E.L. HUBBARD

Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk addresses seminarians and faculty before the library dedication at Mount St. Mary's Seminary Thursday, Sept. 4.

Renovated Maly Library dedicated at the seminary

ST. ANDREW DEANERY — Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk formally dedicated the newly renovated Eugene H. Maly Memorial Library at the Athenaeum of Ohio during ceremonies Sept. 4.

As part of the dedication, the library’s rare book collection was named in the archbishop’s honor, recognizing him for his support and his many contributions to the collection. The library contains about 9,000 volumes with manuscripts dating to the 1200s.

The Maly Library, which contains one of the midwest’s most respected theological collections, is open to the public.

The renovation was made possible through a $1 million grant from the Western-Southern Foundation, a $500,000 grant from the Fifth Third Foundation, $25,000 from Federated Department stores and $15,000 from two anonymous donors earmarked for restoration of the apse between the library’s main entrance doors.

The beginnings of the library date to the founding of the Athenaeum in 1829 by Bishop Edward Fenwick, and the nucleus of its rare book collection originates with Archbishop John Baptist Purcell (1800-1883), who collected many books during his trips to Europe.

The Maly Library’s complete collection totals about 100,000 volumes. The library belongs to OHIOLink — a consortium of 88 academic libraries across Ohio and two smaller consortia of libraries combining resources. The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County is a consortia member.

"A lot of things other libraries may have discarded, we never did," said director Tracy Koenig. "That’s interesting, because I will see people ask for reprints of certain theological books — things that are being reprinted after 50 or 100 years, and we’ll have two copies of the old printing. That is what gives us unique character.

"Our collection is so historically deep," she said. "There are a lot of things here because we were once a college, because of the strong theological bent of the curriculum over a long period of time, because of the really deep knowledge of the faculty. We have a collection that hasn’t only been developed in the modern sense. It really has been preserved."

The seminary’s president and rector, Father Edward P. Smith, reads a plaque honoring Archbishop Pilarczyk during the library re-dedication.