The Randal Riede, C.F.X. Library

Our late friend and honorary alumnus, Brother Randal Riede, CFX, built a library collection of 64,000 books and 234 periodical subscriptions at the College. It has become the finest English library in all of Rome; the eminent Church historian Monsignor John Tracy Ellis publicly noted Brother’s accomplishment as to have so many scholars.

Library Catalogue

Periodical Holdings

 Library Room  Reading Room

Private Collection

This is a private collection and is not open to the public. Anyone from the outside must have written permission from the Rector to use the library.

Arrangement of the Library Areas

The Main Library is located on the R level. On this level are the Librarian’s office, the Travel/Multimedia Room, the Pius XII Room, a computer lab, copy room, 2 Reference rooms, one large room of stacks, and a Reading Room located in the Tower. Three Study Rooms are located on Level 1. Three additional rooms are located in the mezzanine within the Stacks room and the Reference Rooms. On -1 level are located two storage rooms. All books can be found in the Library Catalogue.

Rooms

The library consists of 11 rooms on two levels. On the first level is the library office, which houses the rare book collection. Also on the first level is the Pius XII Conference Room. This room houses the “BX” Section – titles that pertain to Christianity using the Library of Congress call number system. The Circulation Room, 2 Reference Rooms, 1 lower stack room, the copy machine room, computer lab and the travel/multimedia library can also be found on the first level. Upstairs in the mezzanine are the bound periodicals, dissertations in one room and 2 other rooms of stacks. There are also two depositories on the ground level where duplicate tiles and older bound periodicals are kept. Lastly, the Reading Room in the Tower houses the most current periodicals we subscribe to.

Collection

The Pontifical North American College Libraries consists of two collections, the Randal Riede Library on the Gianicolo and the Casa Santa Maria on via del ‘Umilita. The Randal Riede Libray contains approximately 93,000 cataloged items of books, bound periodicals and media materials. The Casa Santa Maria Library contains approximately 30,000 cataloged items of books, bound periodicals and Media Materials. Students may use materials from either library. Databases from EBSCO, JSTOR and HeinOnline along with online subscriptions to periodicals are provided via IP addresses and are accessible by both libraries. As for collection development, faculty and students are encouraged to request books and materials for the collection. There is an online catalogue accessible to all student via the internet. The Library provides open access to the students 24/7. There is self-checkout and return. The Library of Congress classification system is followed and all materials are cataloged according to LC standards and can be found in the online catalogue.

The NAC libraries contain over 120,000 books. The majority of the collection is in Theology and Scripture. Faculty and students are encouraged to request books and materials for the collection.

  • Checkouts: The library has a self-checkout system. Books are checked out in the Circulation Room. Students are asked to checkout all books in case another student should need a book and ask to use it. Books are checked out for 1 month with the ability to renew up to 3 months.
  • Return books: Returned books go on the shelving section located at the entrance of the door to the computer lab. The books are checked in and put away by a library clerk.
  • Overdue Books: Students will be routinely sent overdue notices for overdue books and contacted before they leave the college.
  • Reserve Books: Teachers and students may request a book or books to be placed on reserve. Reserve shelves are to be found in the second Reference Room on shelves appropriately marked.
  • Classification: The Library of Congress, A-Z call numbers and subject headings are used to organize the collection. This library is mainly religious studies, B’s.

The Follett System is user friendly. Boolean searching can be done, along with subject, author, title and keyword search. The Library’s subscription to databases can be found on the library homepage. Only students and faculty members with login credentials can access the library homepage.

Periodicals

EBSCO databases provide periodical indexes and some full texts for students.  JSTOR databases (Art VI and XII) provide full text to periodical articles and eBooks in Philosophy, Religion and other fields.  Online periodicals are available to students via IP addresses or through login access information provided on the Library Homepage.  Bound print volumes are cataloged and located in the mezzanine or storage rooms. All databases and online subscriptions can be found on the Home page of the Library Catalogue.  Students have access to a wealth of information for their studies in theology and scripture.

The library receives 84 print periodical subscriptions and has access to over 700 Online periodicals. Current periodicals found in the Reading Room (in the tower) are not to be taken out. Bound volumes are found on the balcony and in the stacks upstairs. Older bound volumes are in storage. Students must request to use these, all others are in open-stacks.

Hours

Library times are 24/7 as this is a house library and never closes! During Christmas and summer break the library is locked. Students may use their pass to enter.

Study Areas

Students are welcome to select a personal study area. These areas are given on a first-come base. Areas must be labeled with student’s name and library books that are taken must be checked out.