Sister Mary Anselm became known for her innovative methods as well as her many lectures and publications on English literature and Christian doctrine. In 1925 she co-founded with Frank Sheed the school branch of the Catholic Evidence Guild, thus breaking new ground in the teaching of religion. She published a monograph entitled The Catholic Evidence Guild in Secondary Schools in 1939. Always an advocate for tertiary education, she built up the school's library at Santa Sabina, and organised regular weekly feature lectures on English and Latin literature for the senior pupils and the Sisters. Many of the lecturers were from published authors – her friends from university days – and she also frequently invited writers to the school. Sister Mary Anselm O'Brien died in 1945 and the library in the Aquinas Centre at Santa Sabina College is dedicated to her memory.
