Herman Sutter has been named the 2026 recipient of the St. Katharine Drexel Award given by the Catholic Library Association (CLA) which recognizes individuals or organizations who have, through their works, made an “outstanding contribution to the growth of high school librarianship” The Award ceremony took place during the CLA Spring Virtual Conference being held on April 23-24, 2026.

Herman Sutter has been a school librarian for more than 30 years. He believes that “only in the library will students discover the sanctuary to sit still and open their minds to the greatest mentors the world has ever known: Aristotle, Pascal, Shakespeare, Edith Stein and Tolstoy (and on and on).” A long-time reviewer for Library Journal, School Library Journal, and Catholic Library World, he is also an award winning essayist for St. Anthony Messenger.

He is the co-author of the research book, Finding the Right Path: Researching Your Way to Discovery, and the poetry chapbooks Stations and The World Before Grace. His narrative poem, “Constance,” received the Innisfree Prize for Poetry in 1988. He is also the author of the blog, The World Before Grace (and After), where he contemplates the paradox of finding grace through the loss of self.

The Coalition for Spiritual & Public Leadership has been named the 2026 recipient of the Aggiornamento Award, the annual award given by the Catholic Library Association “in recognition of an outstanding contribution made by an individual or an organization for the renewal of parish and community life.” The Aggiornamento Award ceremony took place during the CLA Spring Virtual Conference on April 23-24, 2026.

The Coalition for Spiritual & Public Leadership brings together organizations, congregations, universities, parishes, and other grassroots organizations in Chicago and the western suburbs, particularly Maywood, Melrose Park, and Proviso Township, to build power to create thriving communities.

The member-led organization focuses on advancing racial, economic, social, and environmental justice through grassroots organizing. Their plans have led to the creation of a community-run cultural center in Back of the Yards, Chicago; Smart Routes for student safety in Proviso Township; and the reopening of several medical centers around the Chicago area.

The Catholic Library World Editorial Committee has selected Mark DeStephano as the recipient of the John Brubaker Memorial Award for 2025. Established in 1978, the Brubaker Award recognizes an outstanding peer-reviewed article of literary merit published in Catholic Library World. DeStephano’s article “Crisis in Spain 1931-1940: The Sign Magazine and Passionist Representations of the Spanish Civil War” appeared in the August 2025 issue. Since 1995, Mark DeStephano has been Professor and Chairman of the Department of Modern & Classical Languages and Director of the Asian Studies Program at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey.

DeStephano’s excellent work of historical scholarship rescues an American Catholic magazine from relative obscurity. Founded and edited by the Congregation of the Passion, The Sign was published from 1921 to 1982. As the 1930s wore on, the magazine’s staff became increasingly concerned by the infiltration of Soviet communism into Spain, especially when three young Passionists fell victim to political violence in 1934. When the Spanish Civil War began in 1936, The Sign covered military battles, the political situation, and attacks on the Catholic Church. Although American Catholics were generally supportive of Franco, they worried that he might form a fascist alliance with Mussolini. Mark DeStephano shows how religious publications like The Sign help us to gain “a deeper understanding of the attitudes of American Catholics towards their fellow Catholics in Europe, as well as towards the many ideological forces that opposed their faith and their way of life” (18).