Library
The Byzantine Catholic Seminary Library features theological and historical resources focusing on:
- Eastern Christianity
- Catholic dogma and theology
- Prostopinije and liturgical chant
- Carpatho-Rusyn, Slovak and Ukrainian culture and heritage
Hours:
9am-4pm Monday through Friday and by appointment
Closed all major secular and religious holidays
NOTE: Since the library is housed within the Seminary’s residence halls, it has limited availability to non-residents. Therefore we recommend that you contact the librarian a day or two in advance just to be sure that someone will be available to let you in.
With nearly 25,000 cataloged items, 150 periodicals and a growing catalog of electronic resources, the Byzantine Catholic Seminary Library holds a specialized collection of unique items in the field of Eastern Catholic theology and music as well as Eastern European history.
The library collection contains publications from the 16th to the 21st century. Some are manuscripts, but most of the collection consists of printed books and increasingly, other non-print media, concentrating on the Byzantine Catholic Church specifically. But it extends its focus as well to the Eastern Orthodox Church, its theology, and history as well as seeking items to add to our extensive collection of musical resources unique to the practice of prostopinije, or Ruthenian liturgical chant. The library also has a general collection of Christian dogma and theology books and the other major religions of the world as well as Eastern and Central European history and languages.
The Library primarily serves the seminary student body, providing intellectual and technological support for course work as well as thesis research. Furthermore, the Library also responds to the research needs of its faculty as they produce scholarship in their chosen fields. While the primary focus of the Library is academic, by virtue of its unique collection of materials on the Byzantine and Orthodox Churches as well as liturgical music, it is also a research and special collections library.
The library’s catalog can be searched online using this link.
InterLibrary Loan (ILL)
The Access PA Catalog and ILL System is a coordinated resource-sharing program of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Office of Commonwealth Libraries.
The new Access PA Catalog is constantly being updated and as of 2/2016, comprises of 8.1 million titles, including books, periodicals, DVDs, and more. With over 37.6 million holdings, the Access PA Catalog was the first, and remains the largest, statewide bibliographic union catalog in North America.
Currently, 2,538 institutions participate in the program, including 133 academic libraries, 559 public library systems and 75 special libraries across the state.
The Byzantine Catholic Seminary Library holds many rare and unique items, some found in limited locations nationally, some found nowhere else. These include rare serials such as Soyuz, the Kalendar of the Greek Catholic Union and Amerikansky Russky Viestnik, the longest running Rusyn-American newspaper in the United States. In addition, the Library contains more than 800 parish histories of Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches throughout the U.S. and Canada. And the Library contains many fine examples of treasure binding of sacred texts, most in ivory but several include intricate metalwork in jeweled gold.
Special Collections: Cantors and Choir Directors
God With Us Archive (Coming Soon)
Greek Catholic Union Archive (Coming Soon)
Library Gifts and Donations Policy
Collection Development Policy
Request a Resource
Computer Use Policy
