Congratulations to our friend and colleague, Amalia Warshenbrot who has been appointed as the new director of the Levine-Sklut Jewish Learning and Resource Center (JLRC) in Charlotte, NC.
Here is an article that appeared about the Center in the Charlotte Jewish News. Kol ha-Kavod!!!!! Happily Ever After at the JLRC By Amy Krakovitz Once upon a time there was a small Jewish community in North Carolina. As that community grew, it established a library, and then an educational resource center, and then a day school with lots of books, and then its own historical society. For a long time these four entities existed side by side. And then the magic happened. The Levine-Sklut Jewish Learning and Resource Center (JLRC) was born in Charlotte, NC. "The opening of the JLRC is the fulfillment of a dream for those of us who have been involved in the library and CAJE for many years," says Ruth Goldberg, who was the Federation liaison to the Speizman Jewish Library and served on the CAJE Advisory Board. The new JLRC will contain the entire Judaica collection of the Speizman Jewish Library; books for reference and reading for the secular studies of the students at the Charlotte Jewish Day School; the teacher resource materials from the CAJE collection; and the historical records so painstakingly gathered and catalogued by the Charlotte Jewish Historical Society. In addition to maintaining these important collections, the JLRC will also plan programming for the community at large as well as teacher workshops. And then the search was on for the wizard who could direct this new and remarkable center. "We conducted a search on a national scale," says Sam Bernstein, chair of the JLRC task force. "We know that we hired the best person for the job." Amalia Warshenbrot is now the new Director of the JLRC. "I've worked very closely with Amalia for many years," Goldberg continues. "She's very qualified for the position." Warshenbrot is thrilled with this new opportunity. After 16 years as librarian of the Speizman Jewish Library, this is a major yet welcome change. "This is a new beautiful, huge space," she gushes. "It will allow us to make it a very inviting resource center that will attract diverse people - young and old, Jewish and not Jewish, students and teachers. "Space is what we were missing before in the Speizman Jewish Library. The new center is a good space for both the collection and programming." Among the programs planned for the coming year are two in partnership with the Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County (PLCMC); one is called "Let's Talk About It," a Jewish literature theme-based reading and discussion series; the other is "Feeding the Fire of Hate" scheduled to take place during "banned books week" and will feature books from the Holocaust museum that were banned in Nazi Germany. There is also a partnership with a Theatre Charlotte for a performance of Donald Margulies' "Collected Stories" that includes a reading and discussion of the poetry of Delmar Schwartz. Also planned is a program about Otto Frank in conjunction with the Levine Museum of the New South, as well as joint programs with all the agencies of Shalom Park for both teacher workshops and family programming. "The JLRC is like a microcosm of Shalom Park," Warshenbrot posits. "We've taken several agencies and put them together in one place. It's really what Shalom Park is all about." She wants to thank the members of the task force, and especially Sam Bernstein, for their hours of dedication to making this new center work and for their devotion to Jewish education. Warhsenbrot has a special thank you for Ruth Goldberg, who has supported her during her tenure as librarian of the Speizman Jewish Library and throughout the selection process for the director of the JLRC. And of course she is always grateful to her library patrons and the teachers of Shalom Park for their confidence and faith in her. "A special thank you to my family," she says, "Avi, Ory, and Ruthie. "I really feel like the JLRC is where I belong. I was meant to be a Jewish educator. I am looking forward to promoting Jewish literature and knowledge in a big, beautiful, exciting atmosphere." In order to make this work, the JLRC needs your help. Please use the form below to make your contribution to the new Levine-Sklut Judaic Library and Resource Center. And we'll all live happily every after. Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
