Re: [ha-Safran] Question. (So grateful to have just been told about this site!)

[aidonna]

I have a small salary, work technically 2 mornings a week, (unreality more 
hours). I have a small budget for books, supplies and the like. I managed to 
have it increased about 3 years ago but it has been stagnant since then. The 
salary comes from a bequest. When that runs out, no more salary, I've been 
told. And donations go back into the general budget to off set library 
expenses. So they are not beyond the basic budget. We have about 400 families 
and the library has been around for probably close to 100 years.




I am the volunteer librarian at another synagogue (209 families). No funds from 
synagogue budget. All expenses come from donations. It's a challenge.


Hope this info helps.


Aileen Grossberg
Lampert Library
Congregation Shomrei Emunah, Montclair, Nj


Jacobs Library
Oheb Shalom Congregation, South Orange, NJ



-Original Message-
From: Marji Yablon 
To: hasafran 
Sent: Mon, Jul 2, 2018 3:33 pm
Subject: [ha-Safran] Question. (So grateful to have just been told about this 
site!)





To answer a questionfrom a board member about other synagogue libraries’ 
sources of funding, wewould greatly appreciate a few words from you at other 
synagogues, as to where yours comes from. Are yougiven funding by the 
synagogue, or do you rely on contributions to a designatedfund among the 
choices for donors? Both? Do you use another source entirely?  We are only just 
beginning to build our libraryfrom a small collection and space, and are just 
starting to ask – and be asked –such questions. (Ohev Shalom, DC)  



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[ha-Safran] Members needed for Manuscript Award Committee

[aidonna]

Call for Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award Competiton Committee members.


There are two openings on the Manuscript Award Committee beginning in Spring 
2018. Members may serve on the committee for five years.


Interested AJL members should send a curriculum vitae highlighting experience 
with children’s literature and two writing samples, preferably book reviews.


In addition to being AJL members, committee members must have expertise in 
Jewish children’s literature and be able to meet firm deadlines. Committee 
members need not be actively working in a library setting.


The committee’s charge is to select a work of fiction in English with universal 
appeal of Jewish content for readers aged 8 to 13 years, both Jewish and 
non-Jewish. The winning manuscript should reveal positive aspects of Jewish 
life.


The work of the committee runs from October 1 through mid-January.


Application for membership can be mailed to stmac...@aol.com


Aileen Grossberg
Chair
Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award Competition
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Re: [ha-Safran] speech on Jewish kidlit by Sydney Taylor honoree

[aidonna]

As chair of the Sydney Taylor Manuscript AwardCompetition(STMA), I'd like to 
echo the positive response to Katherine Locke's remarks.


One of the criteria we look for in manuscripts that the committee reviews is 
originality. For too long the "holy trinity" of Holidays, Heroes, and Holocaust 
has overwhelmed Jewish children's literature for readers of almost every age 
except the very young.


The manuscripts we receive to judge for the STMA are still heavy on those three 
topics or variations of them but we have seen more diversity in recent years 
or, at least, more original treatments of those themes.


I would encourage anyone out there who thinks he or she has a good book 
yearning to breathe free and that fits our criteria, including being 
unpunlished (see the AJL website)
 to enter our competition. The competition for 2019 is open now; the deadline 
for entries is September 30, 2018.


Winning or getting good comments from our judges really helps when a manuscript 
is shopped around.


Aileen Grossberg
Chair
Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award Competition


-Original Message-
From: Rose Shoshanah Seidman 
To: Debra Winegarten ; hasafran 
Sent: Tue, Apr 17, 2018 4:01 pm
Subject: Re: [ha-Safran] speech on Jewish kidlit by Sydney Taylor honoree



Debra, Thank you!!
 
Your message is a very important one.  We did invite some of the editors of PJ 
Library at our conference in Charleston SC to find out exactly what their 
criteria were and to ask for better quality books – not the ones that cater to 
the lowest common denominator.  I hope they heard us and are working on that. 
About death – how many religions have Yizkor 4 times a year to remember and 
celebrate the memory of the dead?  Children who go to synagogue with their 
parents, see it all the time.  
 
Thanks for an important conversation.  We need good, strong, JEWISH literature 
to keep the children who are drifting away with their families.
 
Shoshanah
 
Shoshanah Seidman
Faculty Liaison, Program for Jewish and Israeli Studies,
Northwestern University Library
847-467-2914
 
 
 
From: Hasafran On 
Behalf Of Debra Winegarten
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 1:57 PM
To: hasafran@lists.osu.edu
Subject: Re: [ha-Safran] speech on Jewish kidlit by Sydney Taylor honoree
 
At the risk of sounding self-promoting, I'm wading into this discussion.

 

For context, I'm the publisher of "Almost a Minyan," the coming-of-age story of 
a young Jewish girl who takes her grandfather's place in their small town's 
minyan after his death.

 

I would like to see some discussion about how the Sydney Taylor Awards and PJ 
Library shape the types of children's books that are being published.

 

"Almost a Minyan's" protagonist is a girl of color. We didn't say "which" color 
she is, and we purposely made her so that she could be considered Sephardic, 
African, or Hispanic, with a wonderful curly black Jewfro. Her mother and 
little sister are also some variation of color, in that they don't look white, 
Eastern European, Ashkenazi. 

 

So, that's the first rule we broke.

 

The second rule we broke is that we had her grandfather die, and showed a 
gorgeous shiva minyan. But PJ Library specifically says children's books they 
choose to publish cannot talk about death. And excuse me for being blunt, but 
that's ridiculous. As Jews, you should pardon the expression, we do death 
"well." We understand the ridiculousness of three days bereavement, back to 
work, done. No, we understand the importance of saying Kaddish daily, for an 
entire eleven months, the rituals of shiva and shloshim, precisely because 
grieving takes time. 

 

But by NOT publishing books that talk about death, PJ Library "skews" the types 
of Jewish children's books published.

 

That's the second rule we broke.

 

Finally, we showed a young girl counting as part of a minyan, and wearing 
tallit and tefillin. We knew by doing so, we would limit our market and 
audience to Jews for whom that was not an issue. And my press has a strong 
feminist and sociological bent.

 

That was rule number three we broke.

 

Lo and behold, this book won NO Jewish children's book awards. But, it has now 
won two non-Jewish mainstream book awards, including a Seal of Approval from 
Literary Classics, and a silver medal from the Independent Publishers 
Association.

 

I'm a little micro-publisher, living in the God-forsaken land of Texas, of all 
places. And I had the courage to publish a book which I'm proud to have out in 
our world. 

 

There were other Jewish books published this year showing Jews of color which 
also did not win Jewish children's book awards, but were certainly worthy of so 
doing. 

 

IF we are really committed to diversity in Jewish children's books, we have to 
reward those of us who are doing the hard work and putting them out into the 
world. 

 

Of 

Re: [ha-Safran] Children's books about God

[aidonna]

There's also God must like cookies, too. By Carol Snyder 

Aileen Grossberg
Lampert Library
Congregation Shomrei  Emunah 
Montclair, nj



> On Oct 12, 2015, at 12:20 PM, Rachel Kamin  wrote:
> 
> Here are my favorites:
> What is God? by Etan Boritzer
> Bagels from Benny by Aubrey Davis
> Because nothing looks like God by Lawrence Kushner and Karen Kushner
> God in between by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
> In God's hands by Lawrence Kushner and Gary Schmidt
> 
> Rachel Kamin, Director
> The Joseph and Mae Gray Cultural & Learning Center
> North Suburban Synagogue Beth El
> 847/432-8900 x242 or rka...@nssbethel.org
>  
> Office Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 9am-2pm and Wednesday 4-6
> pm & Sunday 9am-12pm (when school is in session)
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Hasafran [mailto:hasafran-boun...@lists.osu.edu] On Behalf Of Roslyn
> Vanderbilt
> Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 7:49 AM
> To: Hasafran
> Subject: [ha-Safran] Children's books about God
> 
> I'd appreciate recommendations on the topic...especially for young children
> approx ages 4-7.
> 
> Many thanks
> 
> Roslyn Vanderbilt
> Children's Librarian
> The Jewish Center
> Princeton NJ 08540
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> __
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> Libraries (AJL) ==
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> ==
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Re: [ha-Safran] Library position eliminated

[aidonna]

Lisa,

How right you are. I am a paid librarian at one synagogue and volunteer at 
another. Because of space considerations among others, I am weeding both 
heavily. 

What a difference it makes to have open shelves and how wrenching to discard 
some if the wonderful old books. I must say that I do have several patrons who 
are sharing the rabbi slept, etc mysteries with their kids.

Glad to hear that displaying books at entrances works. We are about to do that 
in our firmer gift shop space ...which I had originally wanted for the library.

Aileen
 
Aileen Grossberg


 On Jun 2, 2015, at 7:25 PM, Lisa Silverman lsilver...@sinaiakiba.org wrote:
 
 Stephanie,
 I noticed one of your comments particularly and agree with it. Synagogue 
 librarians should “strategically pare down collections”.  I have served as 
 consultant for a few synagogue libraries and it is the first thing I do.  All 
 libraries weed their books, but Jewish libraries have a lot of stuff 
 previously donated by the rabbi or a board member and people are naturally 
 reluctant to box it up for a book sale or even have it be seen leaving the 
 building. But, when a patron enters the room it is certainly less engaging 
 with worn or unused materials and congregants then see the whole space as 
 less relevant.
 For instance, fiction materials like the “Rabbi Who Stays Late” mysteries and 
 even Leon Uris, Herman Wouk, Belva Plain or Gloria Goldreich, etc—the covers 
 are just so unappealing—it is time to pack them up. We just got rid of much 
 of the Kellermans, some Potok, Stephen Birmingham, etc, if the covers were 
 old. And I made decisions about Roth, Malamud and Bellow among other American 
 classics by just knowing that they are all available in other libraries and 
 certain copies had not been checked in years. The only things I kept even 
 though they had not been checked out often were the famous Israeli and 
 Yiddish writers. This is because they are not readily found in local public 
 libraries.
  
 Now when a congregant comes in to browse the fiction section they are 
 browsing lots of colorful and new titles and get a feeling that they want to 
 return. We also put out some of our newest purchases in a glass case near the 
 entrance and just today someone came by to request something in there that 
 she noticed while passing by.
  
 image003.jpg
 LISA SILVERMAN  LIBRARY DIRECTOR, SINAI TEMPLE BLUMENTHAL LIBRARY
 10400 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90024
 310-481-3215 (direct)  310-481-3218 (main)   library.sinaitemple.org
  
  
 From: Stephanie L Gross [mailto:gr...@yu.edu] 
 Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2015 9:09 AM
 To: Ann Abrams; hasaf...@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
 Cc: Lisa Silverman
 Subject: RE: [ha-Safran] Library position eliminated
  
 So very true! That’s one of the reasons why I’ve tried to share lessons 
 learned with my newer mentees.  There is much to be learned from the 
 information commons model, and even more for strategic paring down of 
 collections and enhancing library programs. One thought has remained 
 consistent through the years:  AJL must recruit seasoned professional 
 librarians to help mentor SSC librarians and staff. This restricting is not 
 the “stuff” for untrained volunteers. Skilled librarians who have maintained 
 their value through rigorous professional development and continuing 
 education are the ones to do the job.  I assume that the Accreditation 
 Committee has begun rethinking what new ways libraries should be restructured 
 in order to turn the tide of events.
  
 Stephanie (Sara Leah) Gross
 MSLIS, MATESOL
  
 Past Chair, AJL Mentoring
  
 Pollack Library
 Yeshiva University
 500 West 185th Street
 New York NY 10033-3229
 646.592.4044
  
 Skype: Stephanie.l.gross
 http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanielgross
 http://yeshiva.academia.edu/StephanieLGrossMSLIS
  
 “As we look ahead to the next century, leaders will be those who empower 
 others.” – Bill Gates.
  
  
 From: Ann Abrams [mailto:aabr...@tisrael.org] 
 Sent: Monday, June 01, 2015 2:01 PM
 To: hasaf...@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
 Cc: Lisa Silverman
 Subject: [ha-Safran] Library position eliminated
  
 Thank you, Lisa, for this very thoughtful and insightful post.  The sentence 
 I find the most thought provoking is:
  
  
 FROM LISA:
 Synagogues clearly need to save money and move forward with the things that 
 engage the most members and cut funding from things that don’t. Period. 
 Sentiment is not a reason to pour money into old models of synagogue 
 engagement. The problem for libraries is that the decision-makers are not 
 seeing beyond the old model and are not offering funding for librarians to 
 create new models.
  
  
 FROM ANN:
 I’m wondering if there are synagogue librarians who have created new models, 
 that are doing WELL, and that have the enthusiastic support of your 
 institutions;  and,  that you’d be willing to share with the rest of us?  I’d 
 be happy to serve as central station to collect your narratives, 

Re: [ha-Safran] Looking for books for HS students- both literary and kosher

[aidonna]

What about The Phantom Toolbooth. It's funny and sophisticated enough for high 
schoolers .

Aileen Grossberg
Lampert library
Congregation Shomrei Emunah 
Montclair nj


On Nov 20, 2013, at 7:54 PM, Rose Myers swguid...@yahoo.com wrote:

 Are you looking for Jewish books?
 What about the traditional classics? 
 Here is a list I did a few years ago:
 
 Classic Literature - One Opinion (as of September 10, 2008)
 
 Here are my suggested literary classics, with very brief comments. This 
 definitely incomplete list is based on what I read and enjoyed as a young 
 adult. It includes characters and stories that are part of our cultural 
 heritage, stories that ask important questions, and, occasionally, books that 
 were recognized as classics in my youth. There are many other lists of 
 classics available from libraries and websites; my list overlaps those at the 
 Westport Public Library. At least for now, the only order to this list is 
 stream of consciousness. I want to thank my husband for his contribution to 
 this list.
 
 
 Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. Also try Emma, Sense and Sensibility, 
 Persuasion, etc.
 
 Wonderfully complicated, clever use of language.
 Use of the unreliable narrator.
 Justice triumphs over mercy: Jane Austen is not kind to her characters. As 
 opposed to
 Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre.
 
 Gothic novel: innocent young woman; brooding man with a secret; mysterious 
 goings on in a large, old house.
 Also, good and bad educational environments.
 Coincidence or fate plays an important role.
 The author lets the heroine's rivals live happily ever after.
 Mark Twain, The Prince and the Pauper, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A 
 Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, etc.
 
 The dialect in Huck Finn put me off the book, which I now think is about the 
 moral growth of the main character. Tom Sawyer is a terrible person in it.
 A Connecticut Yankee ends in disaster, as readers familiar with the King 
 Arthur story will already know.
 Mark Twain lived in Hartford.
 Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
 
 Positive portrayal of Jews.
 Robin Hood appears.
 The character of Rebecca is supposed to be based on Rebecca Gratz (as in 
 Gratz College) of Philadelphia.
 Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, The Story of King Arthur and 
 His Knights, etc.
 
 An important illustrator of children's books.
 Retold and popularized old stories and legends.
 C.S. Forester, Captain Horatio Hornblower (series)
 
 Young man goes to sea in the British Navy.
 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, etc.
 
 The world's most famous detective.
 Agatha Christie. And Then There Were None, The Mirror Crack'd, A Pocketful of 
 Rye, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, etc.
 
 Creator of Miss Marple and Hercules Poirot.
 Most famous mystery writer of the 20th century.
 Some of her stories are based on real life news stories.
 Edgar Allen Poe, The Purloined Letter, Annabelle Lee, The Bells, The 
 Raven, The Imp of the Perverse, The Fall of the House of Usher, The 
 Masque of the Red Death, etc.
 
 Horror stories, poetry, mysteries.
 He creates a mood very well; avoid his horror stories if you don't like that 
 mood.
 Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel
 
 Early example of a superhero (albeit without magical powers) with a secret 
 identity.
 There are sequels to the book.
 Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, etc.
 
 Being forced to read the beginning of David Copperfield and having to answer 
 simple questions at the end of each chapter turned me off Dickens. 
 Nevertheless, I read A Tale of Two Cities on my own and went around quoting 
 the ending; of course, that may have been from seeing the Ronald Coleman 
 movie version.
 
 P.G. Wodehouse, Jeeves and Wooster stories, Mr. Mulliner stories, novels
 
 One of my favorite authors. Anything he wrote is good.
 Wrote the lyrics to Bill in the musical, Showboat.
 Lots of references to poetry, Shakespeare, adages. Finding the sources of the 
 quotes would provide a good education in poetry.
 Wonderfully pleasant and clever writing.
 I maintain that Bertie Wooster is a saint and Jeeves has is own interests at 
 heart.
 I prefer his earlier works (but after his boarding school books) to his later 
 ones. Not that it matters, but Wodehouse does sometimes repeat himself.
 There is no evil in the worlds he creates, I think because there was none in 
 him.
 J.R.R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit.
 
 I had trouble getting into The Hobbit until I finished The Lord of the Rings.
 My husband and son enjoyed the books more than I did. I guess I prefer a 
 little more character interaction and fewer descriptions and adventures.
 What impressed me most was the mountain that was older than the concepts of 
 good and evil.
 
 J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
 
 Captain Hook and the Darling children's father are acted by the same person 
 in the play.
 One of those books that has means different things at different times of your 
 life.
 
 Clarence Day, 

Re: [ha-Safran] Circulation question

[aidonna]

We have a Rolodex with a card  for each congregant . When a book is checked 
out, the congregant's card is paperclipped to the book card and left to be 
filed on Sunday. It works well as long as people follow the procedure. Best 
part is the simplicity.

Aileen Grossberg
Lampert Library
Congregation Shomrei Emunah Montclair,  nj
O


On Nov 1, 2013, at 11:07 AM, rdres...@suffolk.lib.ny.us wrote:

 Safranim,
 
 We are in the process of reorganizing our library, but our biggest question 
 is how to circulate the books, especially for those members who take books 
 out on Shabbat and we can't write their name down. We have an eruv so they 
 can carry the books to their homes. How do other synagogue libraries deal 
 with this.
 
 Thanking you in advance,
 
 Rona Dressler
 
 Kehillat Chovevie Tzion
 
 Setauket, NY
 
 __
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 ==
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Re: [ha-Safran] Curriculum Suggestions for 3-5 grade?

[aidonna]

Short picture book biographies also work very well. There are manny that have 
been published in the last few years. The  newer ones like those about Marcel 
Marceau, Hank Greenberg , and any little known offbeat people provide lots of 
opportunity to discuss history, language, ethics as well as character 
development and other literary issues. A good biography, well illustrated, can 
be as exciting and riveting to read as any picture book. I have found that to 
be true in publi school and religious school. The added advantage is that it's 
both real and true.

Aileen Grossberg
Lampert Library
Congregation Shomrei Emunah
Montclair, nj

On Aug 15, 2013, at 2:05 PM, Rachel Kamin rka...@nssbethel.org wrote:

 I agree with Janice – the older kids love to listen to picture books, 
 especially the more sophisticated stankhories, and especially on Monday and 
 Wednesday afternoons when they are just exhausted from a long day at school.  
 Below is a listing of some of my “tried  true” favorites for 2nd grade and 
 up.  Feel free to contact me if you want a more specific lesson plan. 
  
 Good luck!
  
 Rachel Kamin, Director
 The Joseph and Mae Gray and true.Cultural  Learning Center
 North Suburban Synagogue Beth El
 1175 Sheridan Road
 Highland Park, IL 60035
 847/432-8900 x242 or rka...@nssbethel.org
  
 “Tried  True” Library Lessons
  
 STORIES
 Gershon's Monster: A Story for the Jewish New Year by Eric A. Kimmel
 When his sins threaten the lives of his beloved twin children, a Jewish man 
 finally repents of his wicked ways. A great vehicle for discussing the 
 concept of teshuvah.
  
 The Mysterious Guests: A Sukkot Story by Eric A. Kimmel
 Three mysterious guests appear at generous but impoverished Ezra’s table on 
 Sukkot and bless him, while they bring curses upon his rich but selfish 
 brother Eben. 
  
 Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen
 Told to make a doll like a pilgrim for the Thanksgiving display at school, 
 Molly's Jewish mother dresses the doll as she herself dressed before leaving 
 Russia to seek religious freedom--much to Molly's embarrassment.  Also 
 connects Thanksgiving and Sukkot. A 24 minute DVD is also available. 
  
 Make a Wish, Molly by Barbara Cohen
 The sequel to Molly’s Pilgrim.  As a young Russian-Jewish immigrant, Molly's 
 troubles increase when her first Passover in her new country conflicts with a 
 friend's birthday party.  Should she eat the birthday cake?  A 30 minute DVD 
 is also available. 
  
 Cain and Abel: Finding the Fruits of Peace by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
 Retells the story of two brothers who, after years of sharing everything, 
 become angry enough to lose control and bring violence into the world.
  
 As Good as Anybody: Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel’s 
 Amazing March Toward Freedom by Richard Michelson
 Provides the story of the friendship of civil rights leader Rev. Martin 
 Luther King, Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and their collective 
 efforts to end discrimination through their non-violent peace protests and 
 marches.
  
 Abraham's Search for God by Jacqueline Jules
 Sarah Laughs by Jacqueline Jules
 Beautifully explains and describes how Abraham came to believe in one G-d and 
 the story of Isaac’s birth. 
  
 Terrible Things by Eve Bunting
 In this allegory of the Holocaust, the animals of the forest are carried 
 away, one type after another, by the Terrible Things, not realizing that if 
 perhaps they would all stick together and not look the other way, such 
 terrible things might not happen.
  
 The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate by Janice Cohn
 Describes how people in Billings, Montana joined together to fight a series 
 of hate crimes against a Jewish family. A documentary film may also be 
 available. 
  
 ACTIVITIES USING BOOKS
 Shuli  Me by Joan Benjamin-Farren
 This storybook recounts the biblical Exodus from Egypt told from the 
 perspective of a young girl and her best friend.  As each of the days between 
 Pesach and Shavuot are counted, students can look up the corresponding verse 
 in the Torah. 
  
 Ruth and Naomi: A Bible Story by Jean Marzollo
 With this picture book, students can easily act out the story of Ruth  
 Naomi. See also: Daniel in the Lion's Den, David and Goliath, Jonah and the 
 Whale and the Worm, and Miriam and Her Brother Moses.
  
 Noah’s Ark Stories
 Creation Stories
 Students break up into small groups or work individually to read various 
 versions of the story found in picture books and Bible story collections.  
 Students then discuss how this account is similar and different from what is 
 in the Torah, how the book helps us to understand the story better, what gap 
 in the story is this book trying to fill, and what questions about the story 
 does this book answer. Students can also explore the concept of midrash and 
 write their own version of the story.
  
 Sedra Scenes: Skits for Every Torah Portion and Bible Scenes: Joshua to 
 Solomon by Stan J. Beiner
 Parashah