Hello, I agree with the sentiment that a special certificate program is not really what is needed to increase interest in Judaica librarianship. In terms of recruitment to libraries that are not in areas with a large Jewish population, better pay might help, but also the incentive to increase one's knowledge base in the field through local or distance study.
Instead of a certificate program, I would suggest three things: First, the AJL on a regular basis (I didn't see anything on the Midwinter or the next Annual schedules) should sponsor someone to go to the ALA meetings to do a workshop on Judaica librarianship. It could be a different topic each year. This would not only increase the visibility of Judaica librarianship as a distinct field, but also of AJL. Second, the AJL and major Judaica libraries should lobby library schools to have a Judaica librarianship course as part of their offerings. Alternatively, this might be part of a larger course that focuses on "religious reference" in general. This wouldn't be the ideal since it would leave out a LOT of Jewish stuff but it would be a forum in which to explore the religious side of Judaica. Third, and this goes back to my point at the beginning, libraries shouldn't refrain from hiring people who aren't experts, but should then require some sort of course of study to bring the non-expert up to a level of competency necessary in dealing with Judaica collections (such as a minimal capacity to read and understand some Hebrew.) In the end, I'll take from my own experience. While I had a pretty good knowledge base going into my first Judaica librariaship position, I learned a lot on the job. Much of what I learned, I learned from colleagues who were willing and able to pass on to others their experience and knowledge. Best, James LaForest Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
