Hi,
I'm new here. Looks like this is a fairly new site, too.
I've become involved in helping our parish library expand and get better organized. My committee (2 others) and I are committed to lending and stocking materials which promote and reflect orthodoxy. However, we have found that some books already donated (and some since) have not met that criteria!

Some authors are dissidents (i.e., Sr. Joan Chittister, Michael Morwood, Sandra Schneiders, Schussler-Fiorenza, Karl Rahner); this can be verified by internet search and (for example, whether they are involved in Call to Action or write for the National Catholic Reporter). Unfortunately, I discovered that most of these books came from our pastoral assoc., a woman religious. When I weeded them out and asked her to take them back, she did without much fuss.
My question is: can anyone direct me to sites where it may be easy to find out who's who and whose writing would not be suitable for anyone trying to learn about Catholicism. (Our Lady's Warriors is one where dissidents are named and why). I would also appreciate critical reviews. Catholic Culture has been very helpful.
http://www.catholicculture.org
ONTH, there is a wealth of excellent material available now which I have been replacing the dissident authors with. Of course, there are some wonderful vintage works (such as Chesterton's & C.S. Lewis).
I'd also appreciate hearing from anyone else involved in parish library work.
God bless,
MW
Hi Magdalen,
Our Lady's Warriors is a good site. There's also a new site called Tiber River which rates orthodoxy on Catholic books. It hasn't officially launched yet so the content is limited, but keep watching it because it will probably grow fast.
I also recommend checking your library titles against the selection at Aquinas and More Catholic Goods. They have a Good Faith Guarantee so you can be assured that every item they carry is faithfully Catholic.
http://www.Tiberriver.com
http://www.aquinasandmore.com
Hope that helps!
Hi arcorox!
Thanks for the sites to check.
I think Tiber River is where I got the link to this site. I thought it looked fairly new, too.
I have a thread to follow at Catholic Answers, too. Very helpful.
Al Kresta had a show on yesterday and I got some titles there.
And EWTN is pretty trustworthy.
God bless,
MW
(06-05-2009 09:35 AM)arcorox Wrote: [ -> ]Hi Magdalen,
Our Lady's Warriors is a good site. There's also a new site called Tiber River which rates orthodoxy on Catholic books. It hasn't officially launched yet so the content is limited, but keep watching it because it will probably grow fast.
I also recommend checking your library titles against the selection at Aquinas and More Catholic Goods. They have a Good Faith Guarantee so you can be assured that every item they carry is faithfully Catholic.
http://www.Tiberriver.com
http://www.aquinasandmore.com
Hope that helps!
Hi Magdalen,
I just registered on this site. I'm working on the same thing you are; trying to make our parish library truly Catholic in content. I've been using all the same resources that you have, and I try to keep a running list of "objectionable" authors, so I don't have to keep looking them up! The only other thing I do is to simply google the authors name along with a word such as "dissent" or "magisterium." Often, if there is a problem, it will show up on a search like this. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the books being donated to our library were written in the 70's and 80's, when there was so much innovation going on. God bless you as you do this good work!
Great! Thanks for the note.

How about exchanging your top 10 favorite books (or audio taped talks)?
What are you doing to get people to patronize the library?
Looks like we are going to be able to move the collection to a more open location where it will (hopefully) get more exposure and more use.
Right now there are only 4 parishioners who have borrowed books (including myself).
We decided not to include music cd's since reviewing them for content might prove too time consuming -- unless limiting it to Gregorian Chant!
God bless you too!
M
(09-12-2009 12:19 PM)RosaMystica Wrote: [ -> ]Hi Magdalen,
I just registered on this site. I'm working on the same thing you are; trying to make our parish library truly Catholic in content. I've been using all the same resources that you have, and I try to keep a running list of "objectionable" authors, so I don't have to keep looking them up! The only other thing I do is to simply google the authors name along with a word such as "dissent" or "magisterium." Often, if there is a problem, it will show up on a search like this. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the books being donated to our library were written in the 70's and 80's, when there was so much innovation going on. God bless you as you do this good work!
I just found this thread. I'm continuously perusing our library materials to cull inappropriate titles and make room for better new resources.
The first author I pulled was Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. The Supreme Authority of the Holy Office, in an Ecclesiastical decree, "forbade the works of de Chardin be retained in libraries, including those of Religious Institutes. His books were not to be sold in Catholic bookshops and were not to be translated into other languages"...because they "abound in such ambiguities, and indeed even serious errors, as to offend Catholic doctrine."
(06-04-2009 11:38 AM)Magdalen Wrote: [ -> ]Hi,
I'm new here. Looks like this is a fairly new site, too.
I've become involved in helping our parish library expand and get better organized. My committee (2 others) and I are committed to lending and stocking materials which promote and reflect orthodoxy. However, we have found that some books already donated (and some since) have not met that criteria!
Some authors are dissidents (i.e., Sr. Joan Chittister, Michael Morwood, Sandra Schneiders, Schussler-Fiorenza, Karl Rahner); this can be verified by internet search and (for example, whether they are involved in Call to Action or write for the National Catholic Reporter). Unfortunately, I discovered that most of these books came from our pastoral assoc., a woman religious. When I weeded them out and asked her to take them back, she did without much fuss.
My question is: can anyone direct me to sites where it may be easy to find out who's who and whose writing would not be suitable for anyone trying to learn about Catholicism. (Our Lady's Warriors is one where dissidents are named and why). I would also appreciate critical reviews. Catholic Culture has been very helpful.http://www.catholicculture.org
ONTH, there is a wealth of excellent material available now which I have been replacing the dissident authors with. Of course, there are some wonderful vintage works (such as Chesterton's & C.S. Lewis).
I'd also appreciate hearing from anyone else involved in parish library work.
God bless,
MW
It's unfortunate the Chardin remains a favorite in some circles.