Vivian Milczarski, director of the Kaplan Family Library at Mount Saint Mary College (left) and Barbara Petruzzelli, recently retired Assistant Vice President Academic Affairs and former director of the Kaplan Family Library.
Mount Saint Mary recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Kaplan Family Library and Learning Center being housed in the Dominican Center on campus.
The event happened at the foot of the main stairs on February 12. Faculty along with students celebrated with a raffle, letters of gratitude to the library, and more. Parkhurst Dining Services also provided an ice cream bar and a cake adorned with an image of the Dominican Center to commemorate this celebration.
A little over a decade ago, about 400 people organized a human chain made up of friends, neighbors, educators, former students, and teachers who passed on a select 25 books from the former Curtin Memorial Library in Aquinas Hall to the new library at the Dominican Center. Among those present were representatives from all academic departments at the college, such as math professor Sr. Pat Sullivan, OP, and Sr. Marion Beagen, OP, who had been a part of the community since before the inaugural book procession on a winter day in 1963.
The chosen books included a dictionary and a Bible, representing the range of the Mount's academic offerings, such as arts and letters, the natural and social sciences, philosophy and religious studies, nursing, mathematics, business, and education. Other selections were Luther’s Works by Martin Luther, The Wealth of Nation by Adam Smith, and The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children by Gloria Ladson-Billings.
This was done in remembrance of the first library move, which took place in 1963 when the college library was completely moved from the Villa to Aquinas by faculty, staff, and students.
Vivian Milczarski, director of the Kaplan Family Library, said, “Those of us who work in the library are inspired by their accomplishments, and we are honored to walk in their footsteps. The library is a lively space to read, study, think, eat, talk, and work together, and we like to think we are the heart of the Mount community.”
The Dominican Center was originally used as the home of Mount Saint Mary Academy and High School until the late 1970s. Beginning in 1927, it also functioned as the motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh. It is now a crucial part of the college's objectives and community. It serves as the center of many activities, events, and projects related to spirituality, education, and more.