SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — The University of Notre Dame and the Vatican Library have signed an agreement aimed at opening the doors of one of the world’s most important research libraries to more American scholars.

The five-year agreement calls for the university and the library to collaborate in organizing joint conferences, lecture series, art exhibitions and musical and theatrical performances. They’ll also have informal exchanges of personnel and develop joint research programs.

Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues said through a translator Monday that the library was interested in Notre Dame helping it to have a greater presence in the U.S. He says he was a bit disillusioned when he became the archivist and librarian in 2012 to see that the library wasn’t being as widely used it should.