Meeting Minutes: March 21, 2007

Minutes of March 21, 2007 meeting, Greenfield Day School, Miami. Minutes recorded by Art Quinn.

Present: Kathleen Clotfelter, Steve Davidson, Heidi Estrin, Inez Feingold, Jackie Fine, Etta Gold, Phyllis Gutmann, Phyllis Levy, Art Quinn

I) Heidi called the meeting to order at 12:15pm. Jackie Fine was thanked for hosting the meeting and lunch. Heidi shared that the book, The Castle on Hester Street by Linda Heller is being re-illustrated and passed around a galley. She added that the Publications Committee of AJL needs assistance and to contact Debbie Stern if you think you might like to volunteer. Kathleen Clotfelter talked about a tolerance workshop sponsored by ADL that had been very helpful at her school (A World of Difference). She suggested that it was very relevant considering the theme of the exhibit we were touring at the JCC museum at the end of the meeting.

II) Heidi promoted attendance at the AJL convention which takes place June 17-20 this year in Scottsdale, Arizona. She distributed forms to register for convention and to apply for a travel grant. The 2008 convention will be in Cleveland, and 2009 will be in Chicago.

III) An announcement was passed out about Broward County Library's annual Children's Literature Conference on April 27. One of the featured authors is Eric Kimmel who has written many Jewish children's books.

IV) Phyllis Levy asked for clarification on using the Google group for e-mail replies. Heidi said that a reply will go to the entire group, and that for private messages users should not hit "reply" but should email the individual separately. Phyllis added that her congregation is holding a Seder April 3 that is open to the community. Jackie Fine talked about her Greenie Award program which awards a favorite book selected by each grade in the school by the children. Etta said that children had an activity to create their own book covers for their favorite books for the BABBA Award at Beth Am. Heidi brought duplicate books for members to take. Steve Davidson was introduced as a new member from Touro South in Miami Beach.

V) The meeting concluded with a tour of "Tolerance Through Picture Books: Every Picture Tells a Story," an exhibit at the Alper JCC, next to Greenfield School. The next meeting will be at Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton on Monday April 23.