The Marianist Library Classification is an aid to those who want to organize a collection of materials concerning all aspects of Marianist life and spirituality. In their application, the present schedules gather and organize Marianist works by subject, and are designed to follow Library of Congress cataloging practices and procedures.

Introduction

The schedules that form the Marianist Library Classification were developed because the classification scheme most commonly used in Marianist libraries, Marianist Classification 1960; For Archives and Documentary Libraries by Father William Ferree, SM[1] proved to be inadequate for classifying all Marianist works.

Years of work and consultation with experts in Marianist history and spirituality as well as input from Mr. Thompson A. Yee, Acting Chief of the Cataloging and Policy Support Office at the Library of Congress, have resulted in this new approach to classifying materials by and about the Marianists. The organizational basis for the schedules comes from the classes developed and defined by Brother Lawrence Scrivani, SM in his Classification Scheme for Marianist Documents Libraries[2].

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For a close examination of the Marianist Classification System's impact on charismatic libraries around the world, check out Bro. Andrew Kosmowski, SM's Marianist Classification System: A Case Study.

[1] Marianist Classification 1960, For Archives and Documentary Libraries, Rome, 1960, Fribourg, 1965

[2] Classification Scheme for Marianist Documents Library as Developed by the Pacific Marianist Archives for use in the Province of the Pacific, Preliminary edition, Honolulu, 1979.