The Library is situated in the room adjoining the church - at the end of the passage beyond the Sacristy.
The Library is open on weekends only at the following times: -
Note: There is a box in the Library where you can return books and DVDs if no one is on duty.
OCTOBER
The Library theme for October is the Bible, and the October Book of the Month is Bible Basics for Catholics by Dr John Bergsma.
New books
These two new library books are on the display shelf above the DVD display - unless someone has taken them out!
1. From Teilhaard to Omega, edited by Ilia Delio (Yellow 3 TEI)
2. Just Water by Christiana Z Peppard (Yellow 3 PEP)
Readers’ recommendations
A parishioner writes: Practitioners of centering prayer may be familiar with Thomas Keating’s book Open Mind Open Heart (in the library under Green 2 KEA). The book describes the history of this prayer practice and provides good guidelines for following this type of prayer. Another recommended book from the library is David Frenette's The Path of Centering Prayer (Green 2 FRE).
Another parishioner, who has read a good sample of the books in St Michael’s Parish Library, makes the following recommendations from our collection:
Spiritual and devotional reading; books by Richard Rohr (all under ROH in the ‘Green’ section):
Other titles in the same category that our reader recommends are:
What's in St Michael's library?
The parish library contains nearly 3000 books - of which many are recent additions - and a growing number of DVDs (currently 35). The material is predominantly Roman Catholic in its subject matter.
Topics covered include:
The library is managed by a committee currently consisting of 6 members and managed by a Library Co-ordinator. A list of current Committee members and their contact details is available both in the library and on the library notice board in the church porch. The Library Committee is responsible for the selection, purchase and processing of all library reading material.
The library is intended exclusively for the use of registered parishioners of St. Michael's Catholic Church, Rondebosch. Unfortunately it is not open to parishioners from other Catholic churches within the diocese, nor to the general public.
The Library is manned by a large group of volunteers who give generously of their time to provide a wonderful service to our parishioners.
Books are colour-coded for your convenience and are covered in plastic for protection and hygiene. An expanded version of the Dewey decimal classification system's 200 category (Religion) is used. Four manual indexes (red A4 files on the lower shelf on the left of the window) are available in the library for consultation - categorised according Author, Title, Classification and Accessions. They are updated at least two to three times a year. An online catalogue is currently in the process of being developed and should be available for use in the near future.
Unfortunately the location of the Library does allow for research or reference work at present.
For any queries / requests, please use the form provided in the library / on the notice board in the church porch. Otherwise, kindly contact the Library Co-ordinator, Winnie Thomson on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or any of the other Library Committee members (details in the library and in the church foyer).