Tower Topics ~ Spring 2003

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Love for books continues for retired librarian

For librarian Jack Neville, reading books is a pilgrimage.

“I want to get to know God,” he says, “and the more I know about Him and His creations, the better chance I have. Everything I read – religion, fine arts, literature, geography, history – is about His work.”

Though he will miss guiding people through stacks of library books, Neville’s passion for the written word is undiminished as he retires from the Conception Seminary College Library after 14 years cataloging books.

A New York native and son of Northern Ireland immigrants, Neville says his 42-year career as a librarian – almost entirely at Catholic colleges and universities – was kindled in childhood by the hometown librarians who took an interest in a young bookworm.

“From the age of 5, I always liked to read, and every time I brought back a book, the librarians would ask me to tell them about it,” he recalls. “They took an interest in me.”

After graduating from Fordham Preparatory School, Neville entered the Jesuits, but after eight years of formation realized he “had a problem with all three vows,” and withdrew.

Within a few years, he enrolled at The Catholic University in Washington, D.C., where he would earn his master’s degree in library science.

In 1959, after hitchhiking around Europe for two years, Neville married his wife Alice, or Al as he calls her, on March 21, the feast of St. Benedict. For their honeymoon, they made a retreat at a Benedictine monastery near Munich, Germany, and continued their hitchhiking journeys for the rest of the year.

Neville’s career would take him to St. Louis, the Vatican, the University of Missouri and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. But the memory of that monastery tugged at the couple. They began touring the country, visiting Benedictine abbeys, and eventually stumbled upon Conception, where they met Father Daniel Petsche.

“We said, ‘this is it,’” Jack recalls. “We felt at home here. It was comfortable.”

Jack and Alice would visit Conception several times, but on a visit in 1988, Father Daniel told them there was a librarian job open, and Jack said, “Where do I sign?”

“Jack has always been a very devoted person,” Father Daniel says. “You could say he is super-conscientious. He’s very kind and always willing to reach out and help people.”

Conception has become more than a job. Jack and Alice attend daily Mass in the Basilica, and they have settled into a small comfortable house within walking distance of the abbey.

Today, Jack leans back in his easy chair – an open shirt collar in contrast to the tie he wore to work every day – and opens the card catalogue that is his mind.

Throughout his career, he’s gained a reading knowledge of nine languages. He’s catalogued more than 100,000 books. He’s done research in the Vatican Library.

He can see the abbey towers from his front porch. And on sunny days, he can be found walking down the hill to check out books from his old workplace.

The pilgrimage continues.

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