Meeting Minutes: November 13, 2001

Minutes of November 13, 2001 meeting, Temple Emanu-El, Palm Beach

Present: Barbara Bixon, Beatrice Citron, Kathleen Clotfelter, Robin Coller, Muriel Efron, Heidi Estrin, Etta Gold, Sandra Goldberg, Doris Goldstein, Sandy Gottesman, Phyllis Guttman, Sandy Hirschhorn, Sue Kirshner, Elsie Leviton, Helen Margolis, Charles Meyers, Marilyn Neuman, Syvia Nusinov, Arthur Quinn, Jean Rappaport, Rabbi Tobias Rothenberg, Jean & Arthur Schoss, Walter Spielman, Alice Warren, Lee Wixman

President Heidi Estrin opened the meeting at 12:15 with thanks to Charles Meyers and the temple for hosting us and providing a beautiful lunch. 26 members and guests were in attendance.

Special recognition was made to Lee Wixman for having chauffeured 6 of us last month to the first-time "Pan-Florida AJL" meeting in Sarasota on October 18th.

The program for the day consisted of two speakers on the subject of Jewish Genealogy.

The first, Sylvia Nusinov of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Palm Beach County, spoke of her personal journey of discovery. Beginning with a poem "Autumn Roots," written by her daughter, Sylvia began her search in 1996, having little knowledge of her father's family. She had only his name, place of birth (Lithuania), and a letter from his sister postmarked 1939. As far as she knew, all family had perished in the Holocaust. Today, 5 years and much work later, she has a list of 2,008 relatives.

Sylvia exhibited the numerous government (foreign and domestic) forms that one now has access to, and how acquiring one can lead to another and another. She presented us with her "paper trail."

The next speaker, Sandy Hirshorn, of JewishGen.org described the latest project/undertaking of her organization. The premiere web site, the primary resource, the first stop for anyone in search of their Jewish roots is Jewishgen.com. In addition to their comprehensive links to SIGs (special interest groups), soundexes, government agencies, etc., Jewishgen.org is now adding an on-line shopping mall - the bailiwick of Sandy and her husband. They offer a special section on PBS videos, yiskor books, ceremonial, books, Avotaynu publications, and more. So far, according to Sandy, their number one best seller is the 1910 New York census on Cdrom. They have undertaken many more projects that will make accessible links to more databases, including that of Holocaust victims.

After these educational and entertaining presentations, we held our regular SFAJL meeting. Heidi recapped our recent trip to the west coast of Florida. Bea Citron added "It was great," and Lee Wixman said "It was long."

The "sharing" portion of this meeting was on the subject of book plates. Several librarians brought samples of their book plates and described the process by which certain books are plated. Heidi promised to scan and post on our web site the samples of book plates. Some libraries plate specific books to honor specific gifts to the library, while others plate random selections to note monetary contributions.

The final part of the meeting was devoted to "good and welfare."

Heidi related that her library hosted a visit from noted children's author Jane Breskin Zalben, and several of her titles, autographed, we offered for sale today.

Etta Gold and Barbara Samuels' libraries each hosted Sydney Taylor Body of Work Award winning author Barbara Diamond Goldin.

It was noted that in all three counties, Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach, that Jewish Book Month events were still going on and schedules were passed around.

Kathleen Clotfelter invited all to attend the Donna Klein School's upcoming Book Fair.

There will be a special dinner to honor Elsie Leviton for her 40 years of devoted service to the Temple Israel library.

Sandy Gottesman reminded everyone to let her know of any occasion that she should be noting by greetings, as she is our chapter's and the national chapter's official "card sender."

The meeting was adjourned at 2:30, at which time Charles conducted a tour of the synagogue's sanctuary and library.

Meeting Minutes: September 20, 2001

Minutes of September 20, 2001 meeting, Central Agency for Jewish Education, Miami

Present: Ruth Abelow, Trudy Berlin, Beatrice Citron, Kathleen Clotfelter, Robin Coller, Heidi Estrin, Inez Feingold, Jackie Fine, Sylvia Friedman, Dorothy Gleich, Etta Gold, Annette Goldsmith, Charles Meyers, Bea Muskat, Phyllis Robarts, Rabbi Tobias Rothenberg, Barbara Samuels, Lee Wixman, Shirley Wolfe

I. Greetings!

Heidi welcomed everyone, and thanked Shirley Wolfe for the wonderful lunch and for hosting the meeting. Heidi said how pleased she was at how many of our members were involved in the San Diego convention in various ways. There are pictures of us in the newsletter, and Kathleen Clotfelter also brought many photos to share. We welcomed some new people: law librarian Beatrice Citron; Robin Coller of the Gordon Day School; and Dorothy Gleich and Rabbi Rothenberg of Temple Anshei Shalom in Delray Beach.

II. Convention in review

Members were invited to talk about their convention experience. Everyone agreed it was a wonderful conference, extremely well organized, full of interesting sessions.

Heidi handed out address label stickers at the Chapters meeting showing the URL of the SF AJL web page on which you can see our recent activities. Visit www.angelfire.com/fl/ajl/projects.html [updated to www.sfajl.org/projects.html]. She also talked about a conference session she attended that taught how to create your own web list of links; go to www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages.

Kathleen didn't want any of the sessions to end, including her own Sydney Taylor "Best of the Bunch". (Etta is now leaving the Sydney Taylor Award Committee, and Heidi will be replacing her.) Eric Kimmel was marvellous. Kathleen's favorite speaker, though, was California psychologist Leonard Felder. His talk was called "An Author's Perspective on What Makes an Outstanding Librarian". Librarians can reach out to people, be gentle with them. Kathleen spoke very warmly of Felder's book Seven Prayers That Can Change Your Life (Kansas City, Missouri: Andrew McMeel Publishing, ISBN 0740418959).

Etta reminded us that no matter how many conventions you attend, you're never prepared for how enriching they can be. She encouraged us all to go to the next AJL convention, June 23-26, 2002 at the Adams Mark Hotel in Denver. (The call for papers was handed out. Contact Susan Berson at sberson@congregationemanuel.com with a short abstract of your paper or topic.) If you're actively involved with the chapter, there's a possibility of chapter funding as well as the AJL National scholarship money. Etta said keynote speaker Richard Elliot Friedman -- "Who Wrote the Bible" -- was very funny. She and Heidi went to a newsletter workshop, which helped them with Headlines and Footnotes. Congratulations to Heidi for reviving this Margot Berman's wonderful newsletter.

Charles agreed that the conference was excellent overall, but he did have a bad experience during his session -- in spite of efforts by the convener, the previous speaker continued well past her time, cutting significantly into his.

Lee said it was very touching that so many at convention extended condolences to him on the death of his wife and our colleague, Irene.

III. Trip to Sarasota

Some of the planning for our trip to the Sarasota chapter happened in California during convention. The plan is to meet at Temple Beth Israel, Longboat Key, on Thursday, Oct. 18 for a late lunch. We'll rent a 15-seat van and depart from Budget on Griffin Rd. at the Fort Lauderdale airport at 8:00 a.m. We'll carpool and leave our vehicles at Budget. Our Sarasota members will send invitations to those in neighboring communities to join us. They'll choose a restaurant for dinner. On the meeting agenda: share your achievements and ideas that can easily be copied and used.

IV. Headlines and Footnotes newsletter

Congratulations to Heidi and Etta on reviving the newsletter! There will be 5 newsletters a year, to appear a few weeks before each chapter meeting. Only those who pay their membership dues will receive it.

To ensure the continued longevity of this wonderful newsletter, Heidi asked for volunteers for different beats:

Palm Beach - Charles Meyers

book reviews - Lee Wixman (he recommends Kay Kellerman's Unforgotten and Rochelle Krish's Shadows of Sin)

North Dade/Broward - Barbara Samuels

South Dade - Jackie Fine

humor - Inez Feingold

Please email copy to Heidi: heidi@cbiboca.org. The next copy deadline is October 22.

V. Tolerance

This item was added to the agenda in light of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. We agreed that a tolerance bibliography would be a good way for us to help our community and spread the word about AJL. Etta will work on it, with help from Annette and Heidi. Annette explained that she recently prepared a similar bibliography because her Children's Literature Roundtable for Adults which met on Sept. 16 had planned (months before, of course) to talk about trauma. And they did. And Annette's notes from that meeting were posted on the SFAJL listserv. Some titles mentioned:

Samir and Yonathan

Shalom Salaam Peace by Howard Bogot (CCAR Press, ISBN 0881250839)

Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki

Tusk Tusk by David McKee

Somewhere Today: A book of peace

Loudmouth George and the New Neighbors by Nancy Carlson

Lee recommended the video, Snow in August.

It was suggested that we send the bibliography to day schools and news organizations.

VI. Chapter meetings

Tues., Nov. 13: Charles Meyers will host at Temple Emanu-El in Palm Beach Wed., Jan. 16, 2002: Jackie Fine, Greenfield School, Kendall Thurs., March 14, 2002: (back-up) Robin Coller, Beth David, North Miami Wed., May 15, 2002: Shirley Wolfe, Temple Beth Emet, Broward

Ideas for meeting topics? Email Heidi at heidi@cbiboca.org.

VII. YOUR News!

Sylvia Friedman is making aliyah. We presented her with a card and best wishes in taking this big step.

Members signed a get well card for Edith Scharf.

Etta told us she'd received a letter from Schlomit in New York and she was fine.

Stanley Scharf, principal of Yeshiva Toras Chaim, is looking for a part-time librarian, Monday through Thursday, 2-6 p.m. Contact: 305-868-4116.

Jane Breskin Zalben will be speaking at Congregation B'nai Israel in Boca on Sunday, November 11 at 4:30 pm. Free Admission.

Rochelle Krish and Naomi Ragen will be speaking at various book fairs throughout the region in November.

Barbara Diamond Goldin will be at Beth Am and Hillel in the first week in November.

Want to share authors? Barbara Samuels is interested in this. Email Heidi so information can be posted on the listserv.

Rabbi Rothenberg would like suggestions for popular Jewish titles; Etta referred him to the UAHC site (www.uahc.org) with book recommendations and discussion guides. Also see myjewishbooks.com.

Margot is at home recuperating from another surgery. She is doing very well in spite of continuing physical problems. She would love to hear from you.

Mazel tov! Charles is a grandfather!

Charles is seeking suggestions for children's books and magazines for his library. (Shirley and Heidi mentioned the new children's magazine, BabagaNewz, and handed out samples. Please email the editor with your comments; there's also a teacher's guide.) You can contact him at scholar3@bellsouth.net, or bring them to the next meeting.

Meeting Minutes: May 17, 2001

Minutes of May 17, 2001 meeting, St. Vincent de Paul Seminary, Boynton Beach

Present: Emilio G. Chavez, Kathleen Clotfelter, Muriel Efron, Heidi Estrin, Etta Gold, Annette Goldsmith, Sandy Gottesman, Phyllis Gutmann, Karen Heinich, Sylvia Henkus, Irene Hey, Andrea Kalish, Sue Kirshner, Elsie Leviton, Charles Meyers, Arthur Quinn, Marshall Schneider, Walter Spielman, Allyson Stone, Jonathan Stone, Lee Wixman, Marguerite Wolf, Shirley Wolfe

I. Greetings!

President Heidi Estrin thanked Art Quinn and his institution for hosting the meeting and offering us a splendid lunch catered by Rivka's of Delray Beach.

We welcomed Irene Hey, a reporter for The Florida Catholic Newspaper; and Karen Heinich of Florida Atlantic University, who gave us flyers for the FAU video, The Lost Wooden Synagogues of Eastern Europe ($29.95) and book, Women of the Book: Jewish Artists, Jewish Themes ($23.95).

II. Spanish Language Judaica Resources from Art Quinn

Art told us about the St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, the only bilingual seminary in the U.S. The new library opened its doors to staff and students in August 1996. He passed out information packages about the seminary and library, and took us through a display of some of the books listed in the bibliography he'd prepared for us. Since the library is organized by LC classification, the Judaica books are scattered through the collection, so Art's display made it possible for us to see a sampling of them in one place. To quote from Art's package, "The principal focus of collection development is in the area of graduate level theology and philosophy, in English and in Spanish, in all available media, which supports the primary mission of the seminary -- the training of Roman Catholic priests in a bilingual/multicultural program and environment." We were all impressed by the collection and the beautiful building and grounds. Art led a tour of the library after the meeting; Lee invited members to his home to see his collection of hanukkiyot and menorahs.

III. Holocaust Library at Spanish River High School: special guests

J.J. Stone recounted how he and fellow Spanish River senior, Leslie Adler, raised awareness and money to set up the Spanish River Holocaust Research Center at their high school. (Leslie was unable to attend, but J.J.'s younger sister, Allyson, was there. Allyson will be continuing with the project when J.J. and Leslie leave for their respective colleges in the fall.) As juniors, J.J. and Leslie had in-depth projects on Holocaust topics but found their school library resources woefully inadequate. They contacted the Wiesenthal Center, the Holocaust Museum, and the American Jewish Committee. The AJC sent out a letter to their 14,000 members asking for $18 to help buy books. They also worked with their school librarian and FAU professor Alan Berger. Several of us brought extra copies of Holocaust books to donate to the cause. If you have any extra Holocaust-related books that you don't need, you can donate them to the Holocaust Research Center at Spanish River High School at 5100 Jog Road, Boca Raton, FL 33496. If you would like to send a check, it should be payable to the Holocaust Research Center at Spanish River High School. Thanks to Lee Wixman and Art Quinn for arranging for our speakers.

IV. Swap and Share

Heidi asked for ideas on how to attract religious school students to her library, when they usually only come with their teachers. Some suggestions:

Etta: have a tour at the beginning of the year

Shirley: make sure the library has the same "time" as other programs such as music; this will provide a period in which to borrow books

Annette: have a contest highlighting the library in some way; Miami-Dade Public Library last year held a very successful bookmark design contest

Etta: the Temple Beth Am Library has a "BABBA" book award contest in which children choose their favorite library book

Lee: put up a display

Andrea: provide snacks!

Sandy: tell parents to come a little earlier so children can use library

Sue Kirshner asked how you can get a catalog from just a shelflist.

Etta: follow guidelines for accreditation process

Kathleen: use Margot's book, How to Organize a Jewish Library, available through AJL National (see website: www.jewishlibraries.org)

Heidi: lots of signage helps; create a database

V. News and Announcements

Margot is in New York recovering from hip surgery. She won't be checking her e-mail, phone or fax for a while, but you can reach her via Etta. Cards may be sent to her daughter's address:

Margot S. Berman
c/o Melissa Berman
15 West 81st Street, Apt. 4C
New York, NY 10024

Sandy reminded everyone that she is on the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Committee, and so to send any promising manuscripts her way.

Jackie Fine is looking for sources of Jewish children's books, as noted earlier on Hasafran. There were a few more suggestions:

Yossi Bronstein, Judaica Enterprises, 1125 NE 153 St., 305-945-5091. You can order online for a better discount.

JPS has a good children's catalog and gives a 20% discount.

Books and Books will mail books to you (at book rate).

To order online, use www.booksense.com, the site for independent booksellers.

Richard Petrella from Books with Flair in Sunrise has just bought another book company, School Book Source, so has plenty of inventory. He is always helpful. His number is 1-800-972-1298.

Marshall Schneider is looking for a display case.

Charles Meyers has written a book called Troubled Souls: Crypto-Jews, Conversos, and Confused Intellectuals from the Fourteenth Century to the Eighteenth Century. The book is $35. He will be talking about his research at the convention.

Heidi read some e-mail messages from members who couldn't attend:

Alice Warren will be taking over Elsie Leviton's job at Temple Israel, and leaving behind her position at Hillel Day School in Boca. Give her a call if you are interested in the position. She says "Hillel is a lovely school with delightful children and loving faculty and supportive parents. I'm getting it ready for computerization and it is moving into its own building in the fall. It is a very 'media center' oriented administration." Alice's email is Tutors8311@aol.com. Hillel's phone number is 561-470-5000.

Sylvia Friedman would like everyone to know that she and her husband are planning to make aliyah at the end of December! She will be leaving behind her Wednesday job at Beth David Library in Miami, so anyone who is interested should contact her or Lilian Beer (the director of the library). Sylvia's email is basyf@juno.com. The Beth David phone number is 305-854-3911.

Schlomit sent a thank-you for the send-off we gave her at the last meeting. She is enjoying New York and her new job.

Heidi told us about the "Once Upon a World" Children's Book Award (for tolerance) given by the Wiesenthal Center. There is a free package available from the Center, complete with bookmarks and award stickers for the books. The following books are winners:

2000 Through My Eyes, Ruby Bridges

1999 So Far From the Sea, Eve Bunting

1998 Gathering the Sun, Alma Flor Ada

1997 The Day Gogo Went to Vote, Elinor Batezat Sisulu

1996 A School for Pompey Walker, Michael J. Rosen

You may contact Adaire Klein at aklein@wiesenthal.net, or call/write to the Simon Wiesenthal Center at 1399 South Roxbury Dr., Los Angeles, CA 30035, 310-553-9036.

Andrea will be booking author Barbara Diamond Goldin this fall, and wants to know if others want her too and can share the cost. She charges $900 a day.

VI. Thank-you to Heidi

Annette presented Heidi with a plant and flower arrangement on behalf of the chap ter to mark a wonderful first term as President.

VII. Meeting topics and/or projects for next year:

Update the AJL bookmarks since we have added member libraries. (Chapter executive: remember to bring a supply of flyers, etc. to meetings.)

Discuss Jewish Book Month promotion.

Kathleen would like us to exchange school schedules for each county.

Please bring $15 for Chapter membership to the first fall meeting. $50 for National membership is due at the end of June. (For a discussion of the National increase in dues, see Hasafran.) We encourage everyone to join both our chapter and National.

Next year's meetings will be on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday to make it easier for more members to attend. We will let you know the dates and locations as soon as they're finalized. See you in the fall!

Meeting Minutes: March 22, 2001

Minutes of March 22, 2001 meeting, Hillel Community Day School, North Miami Beach

Present: Ruth Abelow, Helen Beloff, Margot Berman, Kathleen Clotfelter, Heidi Estrin, Inez Feingold, Jackie Fine, Sylvia Friedman, Etta Gold, Annette Goldsmith, Phyllis Gutmann, Sylvia Henkes, Andrea Kalish, Sue Kirshner, Charles Meyers, Beatrice Muskat, Barbara Samuels, Edith Scharf, Schlomit Schwarzer, Harriet Tuch, Alice Warren, Lee Wixman.

I. Greetings!

President Heidi Estrin thanked Andrea Kalish and Barbara Samuels and their institution for hosting the meeting and providing such a delicious lunch.

II. Speaker: Bennett Bramson, "Fund Raising"

Heidi introduced Bennett Bramson, the President and CEO of DevelopMentors, Inc. He gave a lively and informative presentation complete with an action figure of wrestler Steve Austin, whom he physically resembles. To contact Mr. Bramson: e-mail BBramson@aol.com or call (305)891-3272.

Some of his points:

libraries need money to compete with well-funded large bookstores

think of it as "resource development and community-building" rather than fundraising

maintain a positive attitude towards your organization and community (don't apologize when you ask for money); towards your prospects (don't just contact them once a year when you want something); and towards yourself (build relationships)

don't just make money, make friends for your organization

he has several handouts, including a 37-page handout on Internet fundraising [please contact Heidi if you'd like a copy; there weren't enough to go around]

he also does a children's program called Mathemagic

III. Goodbye to Schlomit!

We wished Schlomit Schwarzer good luck in her new job with New York Public Library. We will miss her! Hopefully the cake and basket of little mementos of her time with AJL makes the departure a little less sad.

Schlomit has been serving as Treasurer of our chapter; Heidi Estrin will take over these duties until a new Treasurer is appointed.

IV. Convention Update

Heidi reminded everyone that all the convention information, including registration forms and the preliminary program, are posted on the AJL website (www.jewishlibraries.org). This information is also in the latest national AJL newsletter. If you register before the end of March, it's $335 plus the cost of the hotel (the San Diego Marriott).

Lee said that he got a price of $278 airfare from Palm Beach to L.A., via Southwest, with several stops. Try AARP and AAA as well as travel websites such as travelocity.com and expedia.com to get a good fare.

Projected convention highlights:

poster sessions (similar to the Shuk we did in Boca)

speakers Hazel Rochman (Booklist); Sydney Taylor winners Eric Kimmel and John Muth; Nina Jaffe (Etta reminds us to look at her fabulous Scholastic website, Exploring Everyday Folklore (http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/folkloreexp_index.htm)

V. News and Announcements

Lee Wixman announced we have two new members, Jean Rapaport of Temple Beit Hayam in Stuart; and Rabbi Jonathan Kendall.

Lee also mentioned the new Schlomo Carlebach Haggadah.

Page 4 of the latest newsletter has a moving tribute to Irene Wixman.

We discussed the possibility of getting a bus for an October trip to visit the Sarasota chapter. The bus would hold 49 people. We would have to stay over one night. Those present seemed keen on the idea. If you are interested in going and weren't at the meeting, please let Heidi know.

Barbara Samuels asked what we generally do with picture books not meant for younger children. There were two suggestions: change to Fiction; create category of Picture Books for Older Readers.

Elliot Gertel sent greetings to our chapter.

Kathleen Clotfelter thanked us for our support at this difficult time for her and her family.

Annette Goldsmith reminded us of the upcoming topics at the Children's Literature Roundtable for Adults at Books and Books in Coral Gables:

April 15: Stories with Boy Appeal

May 20: Mysteries

Annette also let us know that she would be profiled in the Miami Herald on April 3, 2001.

V. Award-Winners Roundtable Discussion

Annette moderated the discussion. The following titles were mentioned:

St. George, Judith; David Small, illus. So You Want To Be President. (Caldecott)

Bellow, Saul. The Bellarosa Connection. (National Book Award and Pulitzer Price for other books)

Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy. (Newbery)

De Paola, Tomie. Strega Nona. (Caldecott Honor)

Gilman, Phoebe. Something from Nothing. (Sydney Taylor)

Taback, Simms. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. (Caldecott; Sydney Taylor)

Cole, Brock. Buttons. (Boston-Globe Horn Book Award)

Hamill, Pete. Snow in August. (New York Times bestseller list)

Please note: The next meeting will be on Thursday, May 17, 2001 at 11:45 at the St. Vincent de Paul Seminary Library in Boynton Beach. Please RSVP to Art Quinn by May 7. Contact Art by email (aquinn@svdp.edu), phone (561-732-4424 ext. 174) or fax (561-737-2205).

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Meeting Minutes: January 25, 2001

Meeting held at Feldman Children's Library, Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton.

Present: Heidi Estrin, Annette Goldsmith, Etta Gold, Lee Wixman, Charles Meyers, Alice Warren, Kathleen Clotfelter, Phyllis Gutmann, Sandy Gottesman, Arthur Quinn, Edith Scharf, and Malka Osserman (a guest from the Jewish Braille Institute).

I. Greetings!

President Heidi Estrin welcomed everyone to her library. Heidi passed out copies of the generic AJL article for use in our newsletters, etc.

Guest Malka Osserman told us about the Jewish Braille Institute. The JBI was formed 70 years ago in New York to help children who were born blind to complete their Jewish education; it now accommodates the elderly. (JBI will soon change its name to Talking Books, since there is less use of Braille.) They work with the Library of Congress, and the service is free. They provide a wide range of material, Judaic and other. LC provides the tape players. They have materials in eight languages and deal with 47 countries. Phone: 1-800-433-1531. Website: www.jewishbraille.org.

II. Speaker: Jonathan Estrin, "Library Marketing and Newsletter Design"

Jonathan (Heidi's husband) has a strong background in both libraries and marketing, and generously shared some of his insights with us. He first gave an overview of the marketing basics, and why they're important to library work. He handed out some sample newsletters and flyers.

Some of his tips:

use newsletter to educate readers

consider newsletter vs. flyer

staple together packet of flyers for dayschool

direct marketing technique: include stuffer designed to fall out when you open paper

magnet format

make article look like ad

keep it simple; blurb style can be effective

include a lot of white space between lines for older readers

include "jumps" (continued on page...) so readers have to open the newsletter

keep fonts consistent

consider balance (symmetry, weight)

use color when you can

heads and subheads break up the space

use "inside this issue" box on front

put text in only 2 of 3 columns, reserving third column for quotes, etc.

III. Special Display: Judaic Books Created by Children

Heidi gave us a quick tour of the display she'd set up. There were about 25 books, some made by teachers, most by students. In some cases photos of children were taken with a digital camera. If you need a book for a holiday or other occasion, make one!

IV. Book Bargain Database: Let's share our best sources for cheap books

Sources mentioned:

Strand -- 10th and Broadway in Manhattan; 50% off list price; pre-publication (review) copies; now provides cataloguing through Sagebrush

Barnes and Noble

Books and Books (don't forget your independent booksellers!!)

Early Learning Systems -- Jim Early, Coral Springs

Scholastic Warehouse sale, Pompano Beach

Book Fairs with Flair, Richard Petrella, 10119 NW 46 St., Sunrise, FL 33351, phone 954-748-8262, toll-free 1-800-972-1298, fax 954-747-3616

V. News and Announcements

Report on the Jewish Lifestyle Show -- This went well for us. We made back almost our $100 table fee in book sales. There were some good contacts: for instance, Marty Cohen from the Jewish Star suggested we start an AJL book review column; Heidi and Annette will follow up. But we agreed that it would be better to find venues more geared to our work. Some possibilities are the Principals and Administrators Committee (PAC), Florida Association of Media Educators (FAME) and Early Childhood Temple Instructors. Please contact Heidi with other suggestions.

Brainstorming -- We could also act as speakers, perhaps concentrating on school administrators. Ask if a Rabbis' meeting would like a speaker. Though the Jewish Lifestyle Show was good for public awareness, we would like to focus more on recruitment. Do we have statistics on the number of Jewish libraries? Since Lee is adept at getting new members, perhaps he could make cold calls and/or visit some Broward libraries that haven't joined AJL. Consider Jewish Star/Journal articles for sources of meetings for recruitment. Also send them articles. We should follow up with the Miami-Dade and Broward public libraries re recruitment.

The chapter sent an $18 donation in memory of Irene Wixman.

Minutes from the last meeting are now online.

The next meeting is March 22, 2001 at Hillel in North Miami Beach. We will have a speaker on fundraising. Please bring any newsletters or flyers you designed using ideas from Jonathan's presentation.

VI. Award-Winners Roundtable Discussion

Postponed until our next meeting.