Meeting Minutes: November 9, 2006

Minutes of November 9, 2006 meeting, Hillel Community Day School, Miami.
Minutes taken by Judith Jagoda and Art Quinn.

Present: Hope Bessette, Bea Citron, Steven Davidson, Heidi Estrin, Inez Feingold, Leah Glick, Etta Gold, Phyllis Gutmann, Judith Jagoda, Rabbi Moishe Kievman, Sue Kirshner, Blanca Laufer, Julie Levisman, Phyllis Levy, Nancy Maxwell, Arlene Merves, Charles Meyers, John O'Toole, Art Quinn, Annette Rindner, Rabbi Tobias Rothenberg, Barbara Samuels, Susan Sandress, Zelda Sherman, Walter Spielman, Ruth Weiner, Lee Wixman, Lottie Yacchber.

Heidi called the meeting to order at 12:35pm. Barbara Samuels, Hillel's Lower School Librarian, Julie Levisman, Hillel's Upper School Librarian, and their staff were thanked for hosting and providing the delicious lunch. We were also welcomed by principal Jane Johnson.

Heidi reminded members to stay current with membership dues and could submit the $15 at the meeting or by mail. A membership form is available to be printed out from our website.

The first topic was the anticipated date of the last meeting of the year scheduled at the Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Ration. The date in discussion was April 23, 2007 but it happens to be Yom Ha'atzmaut and that creates a problem for many school librarians. Therefore, they may choose a new date, of which we will receive ample notice.

Heidi brought copies of an article on SFAJL that appeared in the Jewish Journal. She also said that bibliographies were available on Hanukah books for children by AJL (available online at www.jewishlibraries.org) and a bibliography of Jewish literature has been produced by the Florida Center for the Book (based at Broward County Libraries' main branch in Ft. Lauderdale. Email Tara Zimmerman at tzimmerm@browardlibrary.org or call 954-357-7386 to request copies. Jewish Book Month officially is the four weeks ending with Hanukah but some libraries are declaring November to be Jewish book month. There were also CD-ROMs available with the reviews conducted by the Sydney Taylor committee for the previous year. Heidi explained that Sydney Taylor was a writer of children's books with the theme of Jewish family life. Heidi also drew attention to two titles for adult readers. The Song of Hannah by Eva Etzioni Halevy, is definitely an adult book as it is a bit racy. It is a fictionalized version of the biblical character Hannah. Ms Etzioni Halevy's newest book about Ruth is coming out soon and the author will be speaking in the area, we will be informed of the date, time, and place. Life, De ath and Bialys by Dylan Shaffer, another adult book, is a memoir of the author's relationship with his dying father, and the baking class they took together at the Culinary Institute.

The next meeting is January 15, 2007 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) and is hosted by the West Coast Florida Chapter of AJL. It will be held at Temple Shalom in Naples. About five members in attendance thought they would be able to attend that meeting. We are trying to implement Car Caravans and carpools to make it easier for members to attend the meeting.

Our Guest Speaker for the day was Nancy Kalikow Maxwell, Director of the Miami Dade College Library and Author of "Sacred Stacks, The Higher Purpose of Libraries, and Librarianship." Ms. Maxwell is well versed in the architecture and emotional appeal of libraries, and their influence on certain behaviors. "Physical space should evoke emotion." All of her research started when she came upon two photos, one was a library in Woburn Massachusetts and the other the Cathedral De Spiritos in Venice, Italy and the similarities were realized. The Cathedral evoking the emotion of Awe, Peace, calmness, and quiet, where people would enter quietly and speak in whispers. The same was true for the library. Ms. Maxwell spoke about 6 things libraries do, that are similar to achievements of religious institutions.

1) Provide a sacred space

2) Promote community

3) Keep civilization alive by preserving and transmitting culture.

4) Organize chaos.

5) Are uplifting to people and society

6) Bestow immortality (to the authors of the books housed there)

Some impressions from Ms. Maxwell's talk:

"Libraries will always be here and will be needed. We need to build libraries so that they are more Awe Inspiring that the cold physical structures that we see today."

"Remember the libraries higher purpose—to help & to serve. Libraries should be an arena for fund raising in order to perpetuate them."

We discussed the role of the librarian vs the Internet...Librarians offer organization. The internet is chaos. Even the best search engine brings you information that is unnecessary for your purpose but the librarian is able to find the information concisely and confined to an area.

Lee Wixman told us that he is setting up displays of menorahs from his personal collection in public libraries in Palm Beach County: Century Village in West Palm Beach, West Boynton, Delray Beach Municipal Library, and Southwest Boca Raton.

News from other members followed: Etta Gold announced programs at Temple Beth Am in Miami including author Nathan Katz on December 10. She also suggested inquiring at FAU library in Boca Raton on programs on Judaica. She also promoted the Miami Book Fair which takes place November 17-19.

Phyllis Levy asked for donated books that her school can sell to raise funds for a trip to Israel for students at Greenfield School in Kendall. Heidi asked all members to introduce themselves, as we had several new people joining us, including Steven Davidson of the new Touro College South and Rabbi Moishe Kievman of Chabad Chayil.

The meeting adjourned at 1:55pm.

Meeting Minutes: September 19, 2006

Minutes of September 19, 2006 meeting, David Posnack Hebrew Day School (Lower School) Library, Plantation
Minutes recorded by Judith Jagoda

Present: Randy Beckwith, Sandy Birch, Kathleen Clotfelter, Paula Dropkin, Lorelei Ennis, Heidi Estrin, Etta Gold, Phyllis Gutmann, Joanne Jaffe, Judith Jagoda, Anita Kinzbrunner, Sue Kirschner, Julie Levisman, Charles Meyers, Harriet Perer, Ava Phillips, Annette Rindner, Rabbi Tobias Rothenberg, Barbara Samuels, Sara Schandelson, Ivan Schulman, Edith Sherman, Zelda Skoman, Walter Spielman, Arlene Stein, Linda Stewart, Goldie Witrock, Lee Wixman

The meeting was hosted by Harriet Perer and her staff in the library of the David Posnack Lower School in Plantation. They provided a beautiful facility and served a lovely luncheon.

Heidi Estrin introduced the organization and spoke about the goals and benefits especially for those are new to the group. She reminded everyone to send in their renewal membership checks of $15.00. This renews your chapter membership - if you wish to join national AJL there is a separate membership fee (see www.jewishlibraries.org for information).

Heidi and Etta Gold gave passionate recounts of their experiences at the convention that took place last June. They imparted a great deal of excitement and urged everyone who is able, to attend the next one. Using the school's Promethean Board, Heidi was able to display the AJL online convention blog for all to see (http://jewishlibrariesconf06.blogspot.com/).

Etta shared copies of many handouts from the convention. One of the exhibits that Etta brought was a magazine for Jewish girls, founded and produced by a 12-year-old girl who now at the ripe old age of 15 was a guest speaker at the convention. The magazine called "YALDAH" can be order by subscription at www.yaldahmagazine.com. Heidi told about books that were winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Award. These are must haves for any library.

During this presentation, we [those of us not computer literate], were introduced to computer language, vis-a-vis BLOG = Web Log or online journal, and WIKI, a website that allows users to add or edit content collectively. One of the best WIKI's is a wiki for Librarians in Jewish High Schools. This site has information about books and research appropriate for the High School student. See http://jewishschoollibraries.pbwiki.com.

Another interesting idea came up about an easy library fundraiser. "ONE BOOK, ONE CONGREGATION" The way it works is that the group has several books on its list. The committee picks a book that everyone participating will read and then discuss at a time set aside for the event. The books retail for $20.00, but the group only pays $11.95 there-by making $8.00 per book for their library. The books must be pre-paid and not returns allowed. This program is run through Nextbook; see http://www.nextbook.org/publishingprogram/onebookonecongregation.html for info on how to use the program.

Etta spoke passionately about the visit she and Heidi made to the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA. Not only is the place doing great and interesting work, but visiting it was a very moving experience. She also mentioned a local collection: the Judiac Studies Department at FAU in Boca has the capacity to digitalize music and the National Yiddish Book Center sends their music to FAU to be digitized. Etta urged everyone to visit both facilities.

Heidi booktalked some of the best new Jewish children's books, some of which may be possible winners of this year's Sydney Taylor Book Awards. "Viva la Paris" "Celebrate Chanukah" "Incantation" are among a few. A booklist will be provided to all SFAJL members.

Our guest speaker was Arlene Stein, an author and SFAJL member. Arlene lives locally in Tamarac and to date has written three autobiographical books about her life. Arlene is an accomplished pianist as well as an author. Arlene studied Piano at the Eastman School of Music and in her latest book "My Eye of the Apple" tells about the first taste of anti-Semitism she faced at the school. She was there in the 1950's when there was a Jewish Quota. You can meet Arlene on Thursday, October 5th, between the hours of 5-8pm at Reading Etc. at Health Communications at 3201 S.W. 15th Street (East of Powerline Road) Deerfield Beach. (954) 360-0909 ext 470 .

The meeting adjourned at 2:15 pm and an opportunity was offered to take "freebie" books back to our libraries, from extra books brought by Heidi Estrin and Sue Kirschner. A very pleasant afternoon was had by all.

Meeting Minutes: April 4, 2006

Minutes of the April 4, 2006 meeting at the Dave & Mary Alper JCC, Miami

Present: Sandy Birch, Kathleen Clotfelter, Heidi Estrin, Inez Feingold, Jackie Fine, Etta Gold, Adele Katz, Fran Levine, Annette Rindner, Walter Spielman, Lee Wixman, Helene Yentis.

I) Heidi welcomed everyone at 12:30pm and thanks Inez Feingold for hosting our meeting.

II) We discussed the AJL national convention, which will take place June 18-21 in Cambridge, MA. We discussed the fact that there are airline discounts available through the work of Lee Wixman, and that AJL offers travel stipends. High school librarians can get Avi Chai grants for attending convention. There was also a suggestion that grants might be available through the Humanities Council or other outside organizations.

III) Heidi passed out the new 2006 Sydney Taylor Book Award bookmarks, which list the gold and silver medalists for this year.

IV) Guest speaker Helene Yentis spoke and showed slides on medieval Hebrew illuminated manuscripts. She also provided an extensive bibliography on manuscripts and Jewish art. For information, contact her at Hyarts@aol.com.

V) We talked about next year's plans for SFAJL. At the last meeting it was suggested that next year we focus on outreach to educate the wider community about Jewish books. The attendees at the April meeting agreed that this was a worthy goal. We also discussed trying some alternate meeting times next year: perhaps some evenings or weekends. Next year we will try to have a joint meeting with the Florida West Coast chapter in Naples, perhaps scheduled around an interesting weekend event there. It was suggested that we should make book-sharing a more regular part of our meetings.

VI) Heidi spoke about her podcast, The Book of Life, available at www.jewishbooks.blogspot.com. She showed the books and CD's whose creators were interviewed on the April episode: Miriam and Her Brother Moses by Jean Marzollo, Shlemiel Crooks by Anna Olswanger, the Shirlala Pesach CD by Shira Kline, and the Pharoah Pharoah CD single by Steve Brodsky and Mah Tovu. She also recommended a new Jewish children's novel she had just finished: Julia's Kitchen by Brenda Ferber.

VII) Lee Wixman reported that we have new AJL members in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, recruited while he was on a Carribean cruise.

VIII) We toured the exhibit at the JCC: Magda Watts' amazing Israeli dolls.

IX) The meeting adjourned at 2:15pm.

Meeting Minutes: February 23, 2006

Minutes of February 23, 2006 meeting at Central Agency for Jewish Education, Miami

I) Marci Wiseman welcomed everyone at 12:07PM. Since the guest speaker planned to discuss Jews in India, the lunch consisted of Indian cuisine prepared by a kosher caterer. After lunch, Heidi welcomed everyone and thanked Marci for hosting the meeting.

II) Heidi discussed the upcoming AJL convention in Cambridge, MA June 18-21.

III) Heidi then drew attention to a podcast of The Book of Life which can be accessed at jewishbooks.blogspot.com Heidi explained that a podcast is a radio-type broadcast available through the Internet.

IV) Heidi introduced the guest speaker, Ellen Goldberg, who wrote the book, Kashrut, Caste and Kabbalah: the Religious Life of the Jews of Cochin. Ellen was a reporter and photographer for the Christian Science Monitor in Sri Lanka when she visited Cochin in southwestern India. She later stayed a year to experience and document the community and its history. A slide presentation displayed photos of the synagogue, the people and their customs.

V) The meeting ended with a tour by Marci of CAJE's Pedagogic Resource Center, followed by informal discussion about convention, the meeting in Naples March 2 of the southwest Florida chapter and ideas about future chapter activities.

The meeting adjourned at 1:45pm.