Joseph and Sue Ellen canizaro

Ave Maria University's new library, located on its permanent campus in Ave Maria, Fla., is called the ‘Canizaro Library.'  The name Canizaro is in recognition of the generous gift made by Joseph and Sue Ellen Canizaro of New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Canizaro Library is a three-story, 95,000 square foot facility that will house the university's 200,000 volume collection.  Currently the third floor of the Library houses administration offices -- until an administrative building is built.  Upon completion of the administrative building, the library will have the capacity to accommodate more than 400,000 volumes.  The Canizaro Library can seat 400 users simultaneously.

The building's benefactor, Joseph Canizaro, is president and CEO of Columbus Properties, L.P., a commercial real estate development company which he founded and is headquartered in New Orleans.  He founded and currently co-chairs the Committee for a Better New Orleans, which is a group of more than 100 community and business activists and leaders that address and develop proposals for improving various aspects of the New Orleans community.

Canizaro is also president and founder of the New Orleans chapter of Legatus, an international organization of practicing Catholic CEOs, as well as a member and secretary o the National Legatus Board of Directors.  He also serves the Archbishop of New Orleans as a member of the Archdiocese Finance Council.

CARL F. ELLWANGER

Carl F. Ellwanger is a retired attorney residing in Stuart, Florida. Over the last year and a half, he has personally ventured to Naples a number of times to deliver his donations to the Ave Maria University Library. Not only has he given us nearly 2,000 books, most of them have been in mint condition regardless of their age. Thanks to Mr. Ellwanger, our World War II and American Civil War collections have swelled. In addition, we've also expanded into areas previously unrepresented, such as the history of the American West, railroads, and military aircraft, just to name a few.   Our DVD and video collection has benefited as well with the addition of several history sets including The Civil War by Ken Burns and The American Revolution set by A&E.

Fr. matthew lamb

Fr. Matthew Lamb has been far and away the most voluminous donor of books to the University Library. Father Lamb is Professor of Theology and Chairman of the Theology Department at the University.  He previously taught at Boston College, and before that at Marquette University. He holds the degrees of S.T.L. from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and Dr.Theo. from the State University of Münster in Germany. Father's gifts number in the many thousands on a wide variety of topics that are of interest to both students and faculty.

  michael novak

Theologian, author, and former U.S. ambassador, Michael Novak currently holds the George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., where he is Director of Social and Political Studies. He has donated a generous collection of books to the Ave Maria University Library. Mr. Novak's collection covers a wide range of topics, including theology, government, armed conflict, business, human rights, and more. In addition, Mr. Novak has donated copies of many of his own writings to our collection.  

daniel pastor

Daniel Pastor is a retired Air Force Major living in Vermont. He studied theology at the University of San Francisco and then spent some years as a teacher in Idaho. His military life was spent all over the world: Africa, Middle East, India, Turkey, Israel, Pakistan and Venice. For the last few years, he has gifted the Library with a box of books almost daily. Included among the items he donated was a 1752 printing of the first volume of Recueil d'Antiquites Egyptiennes, Etrusques, Grecques et Romaines. This book is in wonderful condition and has been added to our rare books collection. He has also donated a complete set of Catholic Encyclopedia that is nearly 100 years old, as well as a multitude of literature, psychology, and history books. We were saddened to hear that Mr. Pastor passed away on March 29th, 2008.  May he rest peacefully in the enternal grace of God.

william talbot

William Talbot retired as Editor-in-Chief of Samuel French, Inc., a publishing company that pioneered the concept of providing published plays and musical plays to theatrical producing groups throughout the world. Because of his unique career, he was able to amass a large assortment of plays and playbills which he generously donated to the Library. In fact, Mr. Talbot's donation filled over 40 boxes with books, plays, playbills, reviews, and more. In addition to the extensive collection of Samuel French publications, his collection included numerous books on the theater, drama, and the performing arts that Mr. Talbot collected during his career teaching playwriting at Columbia, City College of New York, Hunter College and Double Image Theater. He wrote under the pen name William Francis and his play, Portrait of a Queen was produced on Broadway and London's West End. When he was alive, Mr. Talbot read over 100,000 plays and launched the careers of many new playwrights. He also saw almost every play that was produced in New York between 1960 and 2000. In addition to books related to the theater, his donation also included an array of literature and history.

Dr. john c. willke

Dr. John C. Willke, president of Life Issues Institute, donated an extensive collection to the Ave Maria University Library. Not only has he donated over 900 books, he also included a number of pamphlets, film strips, videos, audio cassettes, and other materials. The collection covers a wide array of topics, but focuses on marriage, relationships, and human sexuality from a Catholic perspective. With everything from teaching guides to graduate level texts, Dr. Willke's collection makes a wonderful addition to the Library.