Elliott, well said! As a colleague of Zachary's at Yivo for many years, I agree with the appropriateness of this award and with all the laudatory remarks about Zachary's professionalism and his place as a role model within the profession.
With best wishes for good health and happiness for everyone on the eve of Passover, Fruma Mohrer ( former) Chief Archivist Yivo Institute (2003-2013) (former) Deputy and Acting Chief Archivist Yivo Institute (c1995-2003) On Tue, Apr 7, 2020, 2:48 PM Elliot H. Gertel via Hasafran < [email protected]> wrote: > Now, I think everyone sees (at least those rare people who haven't had the > pleasure of knowing him--it just reminds the rest of us!) why Zachary was > selected as the Fanny Goldstein Merit Award recipient this year. And, as > he explained in his career timeline where he enumerated just a small sample > of his accomplishments, he continues to make significant contributions to > the field of Judaic studies. > > I’ve had the privilege of knowing Zachary since before I ever considered > becoming a librarian. This was while I was a research assistant for Deborah > Dash Moore at Yivo in late 1988 and through 1990, first in New York, then > “commuting” between the “metropolis” of Stamping Ground, Kentucky > (population 704 in 1990) and Yivo in New York, and then remotely while in > library school at the University of Kentucky. During that period, Zachary > was the Head Librarian at Yivo where he carefully oversaw and curated its > unique resources, some of which I got to handle. I consider myself very > fortunate to have had such a great role model as a colleague all these > years. He is not only a true scholar and the archetypal Judaica librarian, > but very approachable and willing to share his time, energy, and knowledge, > which is considerable. > > I think that all of us in AJL as well as researchers in all aspects of > Jewish studies are the beneficiaries of Zachary Baker’s wisdom, knowledge, > and experience, which he has so generously shared over the decades with all > types of researchers and information seekers. Although, of course, it was > necessary, I only regret that we won’t be able to gather in Evanston to > enjoy hearing his inimitable style of presentation in person. I hope that > we will have that benefit at upcoming AJL conferences in the > not-too-distant future. *Mazl-tov un shkoyekh,* Zachary! > > Wishing everyone a safe and Happy Passover! !אַ פֿרײלעכן פּסח > > Elliot > > ============================================= > Elliot H. Gertel אליהו־צבי גרטל / עלע־הערש גערטל > AJL-ALA Liaison > Chair, 2020 AJL Fanny Goldstein Merit Award Committee > Irving M. Hermelin Curator Emeritus of Judaica > The University of Michigan > Ann Arbor, Michigan > [email protected] > > > On Mon, Apr 6, 2020 at 6:39 PM Zachary M Baker via Hasafran < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Dear Colleagues, >> >> I had hoped to join you at this year’s AJL Conference in Evanston, which >> for understandable reasons has been canceled along with so many other >> activities and functions. With Passover imminently upon us, here we all >> are, sheltering in place, hoping that this frightful pandemic will soon >> pass. >> >> When Elliot Gertel called to inform me that I am the recipient of the >> Fanny Goldstein Merit Award, I was deeply touched — and I am very grateful >> to AJL and to the committee members for the recognition. In a subsequent >> e-mail exchange, Elliot asked me to send him a few paragraphs that might >> summarize my career highlights, for inclusion in the conference program >> book. In the end, I sent him a couple of versions: one long and one short. >> >> Presumptuously and with apologies, I am sharing the long version of my >> career summary. Please feel free to jump to the next e-mail in your in-box! >> >> My first paid library job was during the year following my college >> graduation (1972), when I worked as a clerk in the reference department of >> the Hennepin County Library, which then served suburban Minneapolis (now >> HCL covers both the city and its suburbs). HCL in those days was one of the >> most innovative public library systems in the U.S. Its visionary adirector, >> Robert Rohlf, hired Maurice (Mitch) Freedman as head of Technical Services; >> Mitch, in turn, brought in Sanford (Sandy) Berman as the library’s Head >> Cataloger, after Sandy and his family were ejected from Idi Amin’s Uganda >> in 1972. One of the librarians with whom I worked in County Reference was >> Rosalind (Roz) Reisner, who is now an active member of AJL. >> >> I put in a second stint at HCL, working my way through library school at >> the University of Minnesota (1974-75). As I neared the end of my studies I >> wondered what I might do next. A few months before graduation I received a >> brochure from the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, announcing course >> offerings for its academic unit, the Max Weinreich Center for Advanced >> Jewish Studies. One listing particularly caught my eye: Internship in >> Judaica Librarianship, co-taught by Dina Abramowicz and Bella Hass >> Weinberg. I showed the brochure to Sandy Berman, who encouraged me to >> enroll in the internship program — and to inquire about job prospects at >> YIVO for an entry-level librarian. In January 1976 I began the internship >> and the following June was hired as assistant librarian, to catalog Yiddish >> books in the YIVO Library’s Vilna collection. >> >> It was during my first stint at YIVO (1976-1981) that the genealogical >> craze, spurred by the TV series “Roots,” really took off. In that >> pre-internet era, with access to Soviet and East European archives still >> largely cut off, specialized institutions such as YIVO were important for >> family history research. Dina Abramowicz asked me to attend a meeting of >> the nascent Jewish Genealogical Society in late 1977 and when I reported >> back to her the following morning, she duly delegated the responsibility >> for genealogical reference service to me. I began to write for *Toledot: >> the Journal of Jewish Genealogy*, whose editors, Arthur Kurzweil and >> Steven W. Siegel, encouraged me to update David Bass's bibliography of >> Eastern European Jewish memorial books (*yizker-bikher*), which had been >> published in *Yad Vashem Studies*. I followed suit, and that >> bibliography went through several iterations —including its being included >> in the two editions of the anthology *From a Ruined Garden*, edited by >> Jack Kugelmass and Jonathan Boyarin (1983 and 1998). >> >> It was while I was working at the Jewish Public Library in Montreal >> (1981-1987) that our Association’s flagship journal, *Judaica >> Librarianship*, was launched. Bella Hass Weinberg (founding co-editor, >> with Marcia Posner) solicited my participation as the journal’s “Responsa” >> columnist. Thus began my longstanding connection with the journal, as >> Contributing Editor, Style Editor, and (eventually) Editor-in-Chief. >> >> Not long after I returned to YIVO in 1987 as Head Librarian, Bella and I >> began to edit the *Yiddish Catalog and Authority File of the YIVO >> Library*, which was published by G. K. Hall, in 5 volumes, in 1990. >> We anticipated that the eventual retrospective conversion of the Library’s >> catalog would not entirely supersede this facsimile of the Library’s >> Yiddish card catalog. Of my other publications during that period I take >> special pride in “The Case of the Soviet Sholem Aleichem: A Bibliographic >> Detective Story,” which was published in *The Book Peddler* (as the >> Yiddish Book Center’s magazine was then called) and subsequently, in >> expanded form, in the *YIVO Annual*, where it bore the title "Sholem >> Aleichem's 80th Birthday Observances and the Cultural Mobilization of >> Soviet Jewry: A Case Study.” I am also proud of the collaborative work that >> the YIVO Library and the Yiddish Book Center did together during those >> years. >> >> Perhaps the most important example of that collaboration was the >> fact-finding trip that Neil Zagorin, on behalf of the Yiddish Book Center, >> and I made to Buenos Aires in November 1994, in the wake of the terrorist >> bombing of the AMIA Jewish community building. The New York YIVO’s sister >> organization, Fundación IWO, had its headquarters in the AMIA building, and >> much of its library and archival collections were damaged or destroyed as a >> result of the bombing. Being guided through the ruins firsthand was one of >> the most powerfully moving experiences I have ever had. >> >> My time as YIVO’s Head Librarian coincided with my most active >> involvement in the Association of Jewish Libraries, when I served on its >> Council and Board in several capacities, including as AJL’s President >> (1994-1996). Subsequently, I served as President of AJL’s sister >> organization, the Council of Archives and Research Libraries in Jewish >> Studies - CARLJS (1998-2002), whose annual meetings took place at AJL’s >> conferences. >> >> And it was during those same years that I traveled to Kiev as part of a >> YIVO delegation (early 1992), to visit the Vernadsky Library just at the >> moment that its incredible collections of Judaica were being opened. In >> early 1997 I was part of a survey team commissioned by the Foundation for >> Jewish Culture to document the National Library of Lithuania’s Judaica >> holdings, in Vilnius, and explore possible avenues of cooperation with that >> library. The other members of the team were Herbert Zafren and Pearl Berger. >> >> Although I have always considered myself a “research librarian,” in was >> only during the later phase of my career that I worked in a university >> setting, namely, Stanford. I soon came to appreciate just what a privilege >> it is to be a subject specialist in a great university library. At >> Stanford, I was able to work on several notable acquisitions, including the >> Ira Nowinski photograph archive, the Samson-Copenhagen Judaica Collection, >> the Eliasaf Robinson Collection on Tel-Aviv, and born-digital portions of >> Amos Gitai’s film archive. >> >> While at Stanford, I edited two book-length publications, *Judaica in >> the Slavic Realm, Slavica in the Judaic Realm: Repositories, Collections, >> Projects, Publications* (Haworth Information Press, 2003), and *Ira >> Nowinski: The Photographer As Witness *(Stanford University Libraries, >> 2004), and — somewhat belatedly — produced The Lawrence Marwick >> Collection of Copyrighted Yiddish Plays: An Annotated Bibliography >> <https://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/marwick/marwickbibliography.pdf> (Library >> of Congress, 2004). My collaboration with the Yiddish Book Center continued >> as well, in connection with its *1000 Essential Yiddish Books >> <https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/digital-yiddish-library/1000-essential-yiddish-books> >> *website >> (2006). These last two publications, like my “Resources in Yiddish Studies” >> research guide (In geveb <https://ingeveb.org/>, 2017), were online-only. >> >> >> I think that it was a combination of just showing up every year (and >> occasionally giving a paper or chairing a panel) and also being affiliated >> with Stanford University, that led to my serving on the Board of Directors >> of the Association for Jewish Studies for ten years (2007-2017), including >> four years on its Executive Board, as Secretary-Treasurer (2013-2017). I >> feel that my serving on the AJS Board represented recognition by the >> field's leading learned society, of the value that librarians and >> archivists contribute to Jewish Studies scholarship. >> >> >> From 2010 to 2017 I was privileged to serve as Stanford’s Assistant >> University Librarian for Collection Development (Humanities and Social >> Sciences). For me, the pain of having to submit and defend annual budget >> proposals was more than outbalanced by the opportunity to work with and >> learn from an incredible team of subject librarians, whose passion and >> devotion to their areas of specialization was every bit as intense as mine >> was (and remains), to the Jewish Studies field. >> >> >> Since retiring in early 2018, I have pursued a multi-pronged — and very >> enjoyable — research project in an area of particular interest: the history >> of the Yiddish theater in South America, especially Argentina. You can find >> some of my “findings” on the Digital Yiddish Theatre Project >> <https://web.uwm.edu/yiddish-stage/>’s website. >> >> >> חג שמח — Happy Passover! >> Zachary >> >> Zachary M. Baker >> [email protected] >> [email protected] >> >> >> >> >> __ >> 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: >> [email protected] >> To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: >> https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran >> Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: [email protected] >> Ha-Safran Archives: >> Current: >> >> http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html >> Earlier Listserver: >> >> http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html >> AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org >> -- >> Hasafran mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran >> > __ > 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: > [email protected] > To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: > https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran > Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: [email protected] > Ha-Safran Archives: > Current: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html > Earlier Listserver: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html > AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org > -- > Hasafran mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran >
__ 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: [email protected] To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: [email protected] Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list [email protected] https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
