----------------------- Message requiring your approval ---------------------- From: "Steven M. Bergson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [ha-Safran] Judaica Library in the News
from http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/palm_beach_news/article/0,1651,TCP_1020_2240320,00.html
Jewish Community Center's library looking for an audience By Patty Pensa The Sun-Sentinel September 7, 2003
WEST BOYNTON — It's been more than a year since the Jewish Community Center's library opened, but the 297-square-foot treasure trove of Judaic books is still looking for an audience.
The second-floor library, named for donors Ellen and Murray Rosenzweig, began with a set of Judaic encyclopedias and a few shelves of books. Consistent donations have pumped up the collection of reference books, cookbooks and novels to more than 1,000.
"We're still trying to build up our clientele," said library co-chairwoman Renée McKible, 75. "The challenge is our location. We're out of the line of traffic."
Library volunteer Edith G. Dutkin, 72, said the library in the JCC at 8500 Jog Road is not meant to compete with the county's West Boynton Branch Library to the south.
But it is meant to be the first stop for area residents looking for anything with a Judaic theme, she said.
"It's a wonderful place if a question arises, if philosophy is in question or if you want just plain wonderful fiction," said Dutkin, who lives west of Boynton Beach.
Only JCC members can check out books, but anyone is allowed to read in the small library.
More than 1,700 families are members of the Jewish Community Center of the Greater Palm Beaches, which serves areas west of Boynton Beach and Lake Worth.
To attract more patrons, library volunteers plan to spread the word at club meetings at the center.
Signs resembling street signs will be set up near the center's entrance to direct passersby to the library, said Marsha Decker, director of adult services for the cultural arts and special events.
The library also is set for expansion. Audio books and children's books will be added soon, Decker said.
"Our library really started from nothing," Decker said. "It's been a labor of love."
McKible was one of the library's creators. The nascent library caught her attention after moving from Weston, where she helped start a volunteer library in the Bonaventure area.
McKible and a few volunteers spent countless days cataloguing books before the library opened, and they have continued to do so as donors drop off box loads of books.
Money from annual book festivals at the center in November has gone toward purchasing new books and shelves.
Authors visiting the annual festival leave one of their autographed books in the library, McKible said.
Most popular are the library's cookbooks, but its biggest collections are fiction and Holocaust books, McKible said.
The library is open from 10 a.m. to noon Mondays during the summer. During the fall, it is open six days a week: 10 a.m. to noon Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"It's so good. I want people to come in and experience the library," Dutkin said.
For more information, call the center at 561-740-9000.
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