Meeting Minutes: November 20, 2003

Minutes of November 20, 2003 meeting, Temple Anshei Shalom, Delray Beach

Present: Scott Benarde, Gert Berman, Sylvia Eichenbaum, Heidi Estrin, Dorothy Gleich, Etta Gold, Sandy Hirschhorn, Sue Kirshner, Mina Lev-Drewes, Charles Meyers, Art Quinn, Arlene Robert, Rabbi Tobias Rothenberg, Sara Schandelson, Marshall Schneider, Florence Shafran, Walter Spielman, Marilyn Tofated, Sheila Weinstein, Jean Wiener, Marci Wiseman, Lee Wixman

Heidi Estrin called the meeting to order at 12:28pm and thanked Rabbi Rothenberg and Walter Spielman for hosting the meeting.

Heidi announced that the meeting dates for March and May have been changed to: Monday, March 15 at Temple Emanu-El in Palm Beach and Monday, May 17 at the University of Miami. Members were reminded to pay their annual dues to the chapter. The book, Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains by Rachel Calof, was selected by members present for the book discussion in March. Discounted copies can be obtained on Amazon.com. Members should read this book before the March meeting, and be prepared to engage in a book discussion at that time. Heidi passed around copies of articles regarding the chapter's 30th anniversary published in the Jewish Journal and the Sun-Sentinel's Shalom Today, as well as an article about the opening of the Merry L. Plough library at the Sandler Center of the Boca JCC.

Mina Lev of the Jewish Museum of Florida in Miami Beach was introduced. Mina announced that Governor Bush recently passed a law declaring January to be Florida Jewish History Month beginning in January 2004. Marcie Weisman added that the month of January is not particularly good timing since public schools are preparing students for FCAT exams, so we should focus on promoting this event in Jewish settings before we move on to promoting it to public schools. A curriculum packet on Florida Jewish History Month is available; please call 305-672-5044 ext. 19 or e-mail education @ jewishmuseum.com to get a copy. Mina answered questions about the museum and its programs.

Scott Benarde, author of Stars of David: Rock 'n' Roll's Jewish Stories, was introduced and spoke about the research he conducted to complete the book. The book highlights contributions by Jewish musicians to rock and roll music since the 1950s. Scott also played examples of music by Jewish rock musicians. The book can be ordered from University Press of New England at www.upne.com.

Heidi asked if any members had news to report about their libraries. Temple Sinai of Delray invited us to their book sale on December 10-11, 9:30am-3pm.

Heidi announced that the All-of-A-Kind Family books can be ordered as audiobooks from Listen & Live Audio Inc. at www.listenandlive.com. She also passed on information from Arcadia Publishing about their regional/local interest books on Jewish communities; see www.arcadiapublishing.com.

Walter Spielman offered tours of the Temple Anshei Shalom library. The meeting adjourned at 1:50pm.

Meeting Minutes: September 18, 2003

Minutes of September 18, 2003 meeting, Temple Israel of Greater Miami

Present: Sandy Gottesman Breger, Beatrice Citron, Kathleen Clotfelter, Robin Coller, Linda Datko, Lorelei Ennis, Robert Ennis, Heidi Estrin, Inez Feingold, Jackie Fine, Etta Gold, Phyllis Gutmann, Sandy Hirschhorn, Sue Kirschner, Charles Meyers, Beatrice Muskat, Art Quinn, Saresta Rolland, Barbara Samuels, Schlomit Schwarzer, Alice Shook, Lee Wixman, Nancy Zombek

Heidi Estrin called the meeting to order at 12:30pm. Irene Warner, director at Temple Israel welcomed the chapter members. Heidi then thanked Linda Datko for hosting the meeting and Art Quinn for hosting the lunch.

Heidi announced that Esther Hershenhorn, author of Chicken Soup by Heart and winner of the 2002 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers category, would be guest speaker at the January 20 meeting to be held at Greenfield Day School in Kendall. Discussion followed of possible guests speakers for other meetings, including Scott Bernarde, author of a book on Jewish rock stars called Stars of David. The next meeting is to be held November 20. The location will be announced later. The May meeting will be held at the University of Miami on a date to be determined. Heidi reminded members to pay their annual dues. Etta called for recognition of Heidi's work on the chapter newsletter. Heidi had all members introduce themselves.

Heidi announced that the chapter has its own domain and a newly designed website at www.sfajl.org. Thanks to Jonathan Estrin for the new design. Heidi said that the new website has links to chapter members' institutions. Heidi also called attention to a website called the Jewish Values Finder, www.ajljewishvalues.org, a searchable database of children's books arranged by value. The site was designed by AJL's Linda Silver. This site will be especially useful for home schoolers.

AJL has announced a call for papers for the 2004 convention in Brooklyn. The theme of the conference is "Jews in America" to commemorate 350 years of Jewish communities in America. Convention dates are June 20-23. Contact Rita Lifton to contribute a paper. Four chapter members attended the 2003 convention in Toronto. Heidi distributed photos to the members present. Etta Gold, Schlomit Schwarzer and Heidi gave a presentation, "How to Keep a Chapter Alive and Healthy," at the 2003 convention, which they repeated for the chapter meeting.

Accreditations were awarded to four libraries in the south Florida chapter this year. Heidi's library at Congregaton B'nai Israel in Boca Raton renewed basic accreditation. Three brand new accreditations were awarded to Phyllis Robarts at Temple Judea in Coral Gables, Sara Schandelson at Hillel Day School in Boca Raton, and Alice Shook at Temple Israel in West Palm Beach. Alice was presented with her award at our meeting.

Messages from chapter members that could not attend today's meeting were shared: (1) Barbara Share of Bet Shira Congregation in Miami is looking for volunteers to replace herself as librarian. She can be contacted at (305) 250-6882 or Bshare@ransomeverglades.org Sara Schandelson will be going on maternity leave in November and needs a substitute librarian at Hillel Day School of Boca Raton. She can be contacted at library@hilleldayschool.org. Members present also shared news about their libraries and shared information. Heidi announced that ALA will have the 2004 conference in Orlando June 26-29 and suggested that members travel together to reduce expenses. Linda Datko offered to give a tour of the library at Temple Israel before ending the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:55pm.

Meeting Minutes: April 28, 2003

Kvell & Tell Conference, Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton

Present: Linda Anton, Helen Beloff, Kathleen Clotfelter, Robin Coller, Muriel Efron, Lorelei Ennis, Robert Ennis, Heidi Estrin, Sylvia Firschein, Etta Gold, Phyllis Gutmann, Minerva Katz, Sue Kirshner, Linda Kruger, Heather Miller, Peter Pollock, Sheree Pollock, Arthur Quinn, Toby Rossner, Rabbi Tobias Rothenberg, Barbara Samuels, Stephanie Schoenberger, Sara Shandelsohn, Edith Sherman, Alice Shook, Kathy Slutsky, Walter Spielman, Abby Weingarten, Ruth Weiner, Sheila Weinstein, Marci Wiseman, Lee Wixman

Heidi Estrin called the meeting to order at 10:10am. AJL Chapters Coordinator Toby Rossner, who flew in from Rhode Island, spoke about membership in the national association. Heidi welcomed everyone and announced the agenda for the day.

The meeting began with the theme "Kvell and Tell" as various members and guests shared ideas for library service and operations.

Linda Anton of JBI (Jewish Braille Institute) in West Palm Beach spoke about the talking book library for the visually impaired. JBI is international in scope. Working with the Library of Congress, they provide books on tape through the mail for visually impaired people.

Alice Shook of Temple Israel, West Palm Beach, told us about the talking book club she is starting at her library with Linda Anton's help.

Heather Miller from Sarasota, FL told us of The Astronauts Memorial Foundation program where educators can receive technology training. More information can be found on the website at www.amfcse.org/itepusa.htm.

Toby Rossner discussed her chapter's activities in publicity of the library and programs for library users. In particular, she told us of ways to use the free materials from the Jewish Women's Archive for a hands-on workshop, and of a lesson/exhibit using picture books as primary source materials. For more information, write to Toby at tobyross@cox.net. LI>Etta Gold (Temple Beth Am, Miami) spoke about the various editions of the Haggadah in her library which are all unique but also based on the same text. She spoke of ways to compare and contrast them with students. She pointed out that English has changed a lot in the last few hundred years (using an example from Shakespeare), but that the Hebrew in a centuries-old Hagaddah is perfectly readable to today's students.

Barbara Samuels (Hillel Day School, North Miami Beach) discussed her efforts to encourage students to be more active in reading through two book clubs: The S.T.A.R. (Students Teach And Read) Club in which older kids read with younger kids, and the Harry Potter Club, in which readers do activities related to the Harry Potter books.

Helen Beloff (Jacobson Sinai Academy) shared a Jewish Journal article that showed how her library hosted an international fair arranged by children who brought typical foods, books and maps unique to various nations with a focus on Israel. Both the program and the publicity were good examples for the rest of us.

Marci Wiseman (CAJE-Miami) spoke about a teen reading program which she had helped develop while in Baltimore which encourages teens and parents to discuss issues in books which they read together. The program is called Sulam Salon, and there is another version available for Grades 3-6. The program materials are available for purchase; contact Marci at marciwiseman@caje-miami.org for more information.

Sylvia Firschein of Sarasota discussed her library's Jewish film program aimed at drawing more people into the library, and also described the double-card check-out system that they use on Shabbat when they cannot write (it's a Conservative temple).

Linda Kruger of Naples spoke of her growing congregation and the needs of the library. She volunteers in Naples and is also a professional rare books librarian/cataloger for a private collection in Aventura.

Bob and Lorelei Ennis from Temple Dor Dorim in Weston introduced themselves. They are just beginning a library at Dor Dorim and are glad to find AJL! Lorelei used to run a children's book store in Miami.

Lee Wixman (Temple Emanu-El, Palm Beach) spoke of the "Hooked on Fiction" session that he and Irene did at the AJL Convention in Washington DC in 2000.

Heidi Estrin (Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton) described a program in which each graduating Pre-K child at the temple's preschool is given a hardback Jewish book as a gift from the library and the school. She also showed an example of "Miss Heidi's Hightlights" - a sheet of book recommendations that she does each month for the school's Scholastic Book Club, to help parents in their purchasing decisions and to gain exposure for the library.

Heidi announced that the meeting dates for next season are open for members to host and that she should be contacted to make those arrangements.

The meeting adjourned at 12:30pm, and members drove to FAU for a tour of the Molly S. Fraiburg Judaica Collection at the Wimberley Library.

Meeting Minutes: February 12, 2003

Minutes of February 12, 2003 meeting, Temple Israel, West Palm Beach

Present: Gertrude Berman, Margot Berman, Sandy Breger, Kathleen Clotfelter, Richard Cohn, Robin Coller, Muriel Efron, Heidi Estrin, Etta Gold, Phyllis Gutmann, Minerva Katz, Harold and Lee Kelman, Charles Meyers, Arthur Quinn, Jean Rappaport, Arlene Robert, Saresta Rolland, Rabbi Tobias Rothenberg, Stephanie Schoenberger, Schlomit Schwarzer, Sara Shandelsohn, Alice Shook, Walter Spielman, Lee Wixman, Shirley Wolfe

Heidi Estrin called the meeting to order at 12:10pm, thanking Alice Shook for hosting. Executive director at Temple Israel, Linda Solomon, was introduced and spoke of the congregation's support for the library as part of the Pre-Certification process.

Shirley Wolfe spoke about an LSTA grant available to create an electronic union catalog for this chapter for purposes of resource sharing. The federal funds would include arrangement of a courier service. Members with computerized catalogs were asked to pledge support as partners in this project.

Author, Harold Kelman, was introduced and spoke on his profession as a writer. After retirement from full time work, he wrote his first book and had it published through a print on demand service, iUniverse. Different from a vanity press, the author pays a small fee and must market the book while the publisher puts the record of the book on Internet bookstores such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble, printing copies as they are ordered. His book is entitled Hiram's Way and chronicles the way his family dealt with the news of an uncle's inoperable brain tumor.

Heidi then spoke about the Sarasota chapter's planned visit April 27-28. More details will be coming, but the representatives will arrive the afternoon of the 27th and stay at a local hotel. Members of both chapters that are available will join together for dinner that evening, followed the next morning by a chapter meeting at 10am, currently planned to be at Congregation B'nai Israel in Boca Raton. The group will then go to FAU for a tour of the Judaica collection.

Since founding member Margot Berman is moving to New York, she was asked to speak about the history of the chapter. The south Florida chapter began meeting in 1973. Margot was first president and held that position until 1979. Member libraries began consolidating periodical subscriptions to alleviate costs to individual libraries and share issues among each other. From the beginning, the chapter focused on professionalism, resource sharing and involvement with AJL at the national level. Gifts were presented to Margot on behalf of the chapter.

Heidi then presented the Sydney Taylor Book Award winners and honor books for 2002. They included Chicken Soup by Heart by Esther Hershenhorn (Younger Readers category) and Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine (Older Readers category). A complete list is available online at www.jecc.org/edres/medtech/bestofbunch2002.htm.

Heidi then began discussion on Alice Shook's current process of accrediting her library (Pre-Certification). Etta and Heidi began the pre-certification process for chapter members as a means of drawing attention to this effort from the congregations that support the library, particularly the executives. Alice published news of the accreditation process in her congregation's newsletter. Heidi distributed questions to members present so that they could learn something about the host library. By looking around the library and answering these questions, members gave Alice a head start on her accreditation paperwork. Alice then answered questions about her library.

Minerva Katz mentioned a lecture given by Gertrude Berman on American Jewish women writers. She said the lecture was very successful. Other members shared news about their libraries.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:20pm.