In brief: The librarian at my JCC just resigned. What
qualities do you recommend looking for when we hire a
new one?
At length:
I'm the new-ish chair of the library advisory
committee at my local Jewish Community Center. About
a year ago, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous
donor, the old, neglected JCC library was moved to a
lovely, refurbished location in the building.
A professional librarian with an MLS and years of
experience was hired to organize the library. He has
no background in Judaism; however, it was felt that
others could suggest books to order.
After some research, he found an on-line catalog
and circulation system, LibraryCom, and began
cataloging the books (many old and some newly ordered)
using the Library of Congress Classification. He also
trained three volunteers, one a retired school media
specialist, to catalog the books on-line.
The library is open about sixteen hours a week.
The times varied because the librarian's schedule
changed. I ran a Purim event and a Hagaddah
discussion with the director of the Board of Jewish
Education and a volunteer. People wander in to borrow
books or look at the nice furniture. Still, we don't
have a lot of people using the place.
I mentioned to one of the wanderers that we need
volunteers and she offered to help. Unfortunately,
she has done things to annoy the JCC staff. And the
librarian and the volunteer loathe each other.
I don't think that is why he resigned; but resign
he has. As the current committee chair, I get
to work with the head of the JCC to hire someone else.
I think we need a paid librarian. The budget
allocated for this position is enough for a decent
salary for about ten hours per week.
I think the librarian should be someone who can
attract people to use the library. And I think the
way to do that is through programming. At this point,
I think that skills to build and maintain the
collection are secondary to the ability to "sell" the
place. In even more words, I think we need someone who
can see the library as a business, with products
(books and othe media) and services (Internet access,
some PC support, reference and reading searches and
recommendations). This business needs marketing to
increase our regular clientele and walk-in customers.
More idealistically, I also think that the library
could be a place for the community to meet to discuss
Jewish stuff in a non-religious setting. I would like
it to be a focus of Jewish activity---another entry
into the Jewish community. I have sent letters to
synagogues and other Jewish places in the community
inviting their support and suggestions. Finally, I
think it would be neat to have a community-wide
on-line catalog including synagogue collections.
So, what qualities should we seek in a librarian?
What qualities should a successful Jewish library
have? What balance should there be between scholarly
texts and popular works? (I'm for popular because
they bring in more people and they get read.) How
many hours does a viable library need to be open? How
many programs a year are reasonable? What kinds of
programs work? What kinds of publicity work? Are
surveys helpful? Would we be better off using the
Librarian budget for a consultant and using volunteers
to run the library for a year? What else should I be
asking?
Thanks in advance,
Rose Myers
Community Library at the JCCS
Bridgeport, CT
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