librarians

Save the books for L.A. Jewish kids!

beccakinla books, children, kids, kosher, L.A., librarians, library, local, los angeles Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The local Jewish children’s library here in L.A. will be closing in a month and a half. It gets plenty of visitors, but the Federation wants to let the Zimmer Museum (a bigger money-maker) use the space.

pout

Think she heard the Jewish Library is closing? (Picture available through Creative Commons–rumolay on Flickr)

Regular patrons like me are grumbling. How else can we feed the voracious literary appetites of our Jewish kids without breaking the bank? PJ Library is a fabulous resource, but has three drawbacks:

  1. Kids can’t select their own titles to read.
  2. Kids can only receive books for a small window of childhood.
  3. Kids get only one book a month.

This past Sunday, the Jewish library was packed for the monthly Read with Dogs event, and the parents bemoaned the closure. We’re upset that the amazing librarian, Amy, will lose her job, and will miss the books and activities that we’ve enjoyed there.

There’s a Facebook Page for the effort to save the book collection at a new location. If anyone has the link, please post it below in the comments. It’ll only work through grassroots efforts.

Library Love – Bibliophiles and the places they frequent

beccakinla book, books, librarians, library, reading, recommended reading Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments
father and son in the library

Hey, kiddo! Do you really need this one, to? Good thing I don’t have to pay for all of these.

When I was a teenager, I lived across the street from the library. I did homework there, typed most of my college applications on their noisy electric typewriter (10 cents for each 15 minutes, I think), and perused the shelves for hours on end. I’d already developed a taste for books by that age, but there’s no doubt in my mind that my family’s proximity to the library solidified my attachment to books, reading, and libraries, in general.

Now that I’m older, I live in a family fully of bibliophiles. We read to learn Torah. We read for entertainment; we read to learn how to do new things; we read for school assignments. We read because otherwise we’d go into withdrawal and start twitching in a dark room. Continue reading →

Still need more Chanukah book recommendations?

beccakinla chanukah, Hereville, Jewish, Jewish writing, journal, librarians, lists, picture books, review, reviews, writer Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Lisa Silverman wrote a fabulous piece in the Jewish Journal with 5 more reviews of Jewish books that have recently come out. The books she reviewed were Jeremy’s Dreidel, Maccabee Meals, Room for Baby, How Do Dinasaurs Say Happy Chanukah, and Barry Deutch’s follow-up to Hereville. Room for Baby and How Do Dinasaurs Say Happy Chanukah were recent PJ Library selections, and my kids enjoyed both (especially the latter. They also liked another PJ Library selection, A Horse for Hanukkah), but I’m really, really excited about How Mirka Met a Meteorite! I’ve already added it to my Goodreads To-Read list and if anyone wants to get me a Chanukah present…

Pasedena AJL Conference Info Up on the Web!

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Schedules and registration forms for the upcoming Association of Jewish Libraries Conference in Pasedena June 17-20, 2012 is now up on the AJL website. This is a great opportunity for Jewish book lovers to share their knowledge and experience.

http://www.jewishlibraries.org/main/Events.aspx