I agree with Susan Dubin about the many benefits of combining the adults and children's libraries.
In the matter of having adult education groups meeting there though, I think you should have a separate room. We find that Sundays are our busiest times in the library. Adults literally crowd in to read periodicals and newspapers and browse the shelves. People bring their todders to read to them and to choose books while their sibs are in Hebrew School. The younger children who only come to school on Sunday visit regularly for story hours. All this activity would interfere with adult education classes and speakers if they were in one large room. It could be bedlam and no one would be happy. In our Temple we do have a Bet Midrash library collection in our small chapel, and many adult education classes do take place in that room. The Bet Midrash collection is a duplicate collection of the classic works of Judaism, such as different translations of the Bible,many commentaries, Midrash, Talmud, versions of many prayerbooks etc. You can design it to suit the needs of your membership. This collection also includes a large selection of books on death, dying and mourning in the Jewish tradition and since the daily minyanim meet in this chapel, these books are heavily used as well. This Bet Midrash collection is under the supervision of the librarian and it provides a starting place for adult ed groups who may then continue to pursue their interests in the Main Temple library. B'Shalom Helene Tuchman Temple Emanuel of Newton, Massachusetts ========================================================================== HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
