[ha-Safran]: Historic Jewish Children's Books
Andrea Rapp and Fred Isaac both write about old, or is it historic?, children's books. Deciding which category describes a book is one of the first steps in determining what to do with it. Age alone doesn't determine historic value and current library thought has it that old books on the shelf are unappealing and downright detrimental to library use. My local public library adheres to that "philosophy" so while you can find multiple copies of books published in the last few years on the open shelves, you can't find anything published more than 20 years ago. It makes for a very frustrating experience when one is using the library for more than browsing. With Jewish children's books, I think that many old ones can be considered historic because of the rarity of books for Jewish children within children's literature as a whole and especially because individual titles often mark significant developments in the relatively short history of American Jewish children's book publishing. Since there are no historic Jewish children's book collections in the United States - or anywhere else, as far as I know -research by scholars, students, and authors is impeded and a small but important part of the children's book publishing record is, at best, incomplete. If a Judaic library has the space, setting aside historic children's books into a separate collection would be a good idea so long as the space is designated, accessible, identified, and physically maintained. (A musty basement storage room isn't an archive and it isn't a historic collection.) Online catalogs make books accessible to far-flung searchers and the titles in a special historic collection can be indicated in the catalog record, along with information on each book's content, physical characteristics, and publication data. Libraries within a city or region could cooperate in establishing such a collection, deciding on where it will be housed, how it will be advertised in the community, etc. The need for at least one significant collection of historic American Jewish children's books certainly exists so the issues raised by Andrea and Fred are important beyond their specific library circumstances. Linda R. Silver Jewish Valuesfinder --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.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: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
[ha-Safran]: Historic Jewish Children's books
As a post-script to Dan Rettberg's excellent advice about what to look for in duplicate copies, the illustrator is also very important. Different editions of a book can have different illustrators and you would want to save all of them. Linda R. Silver AJL Newsletter Reviews for Children and Teens AJL Jewish Valuesfinder c/o 3729 Meadowbrook Blvd. University Heights, OH 44118 silve...@roadrunner.com --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.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: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
Re: [ha-Safran]: Historic Jewish Children's Books
Setting up criteria could be complicated. For example, we have several copies of Marilyn Hirsh's Where is Yonkela?--which I see sells for up to $154.00 on alibris. Yet its copyright date is 1969. Would it qualify? Andrea --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.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: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
Re: [ha-Safran]: Historic Jewish Children's Books
Dear Colleagues, This idea is of particular interest to me. When we moved to Seattle I boxed, shipped and stored a sizeable collection of children's books, many if not most of them Judaic. Now that convention is over, I have been intending to open the 10 or 12 boxes as soon as possible, sort the books and give them to various school and shul libraries. Now, Fred, Andrea and Linda have raised the prospect of a historical collection dedicated to American Jewish children's literature, perhaps similar to secular ones in such libraries as Beverly Hills and Philadelphia Public. Fred has suggested a collaborative approach by AJL but I don't know if anyone on this list is currently able to offer a vibrant home for such a unique archive. If what we want is recognition of Jewish children's literature as an important part of the overall children's book picture, why not see if a university with an already existing children's literature center might be willing and able to focus on this particular ethnic literature. The Center for Children's Books in Illinois, perhaps, or ??? It's probable that such a center would give more exposure to these books than even a large synagogue library, as well as more academic stature as a recognized literary entity and research resource. And AJL could gain status by partnering on the project. While we explore this possibility, I intend to delay distributing my books, most of which are OP, copyright 1960's up and also some unusual older titles I found. They've been packed away so I can't offer an accurate breakdown yet of what is there. But If an appropriate home opens up reasonably soon, I'd very much like to contribute suitable books from my collection to such a research oriented archive. My personal library of children's books offers very fine condition, absence of library markings, presence of book jackets, and, in many instances, inscriptions by authors like Marilyn Hirsh, Barbara Cohen and others. By donating appropriate works to an AJL approved collection of historic American Jewish children's books, I'd happily assure them a useful and extended life and their authors a place in the history of Jewish literature for children. A couple of days ago, I mentioned your ideas to a couple of our new neighbors, Dr. Glen Holt and Dr. Leslie Edmonds Holt, retired librarians, not AJL or even Jewish, but active in public library administration, children's collections and university libraries, and involved with information schools in the Midwest. Both thought a research center for Jewish children's books an excellent idea; they even thought they might know institutions which would be interested. Perhaps some of you do too. It would be wonderful if we could make this happen. Rita Frischer 450 NE 100th Street, Apt. 426 Seattle WA 98125 (206) 361-9772 --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.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: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
Re: [ha-Safran]: Historic Jewish Children's Books
Dear Colleagues, Here I go again. Convention in Seattle just over and despite my vows to myself to kick back for a while, I am weighing in on this question and also will be sending another post on this topic. I believe Marilyn's work is definitely appropriate in an historic collection. Jewish children's literature as an identifiable subset is a relatively recent phenomenon and to provide a true research center, it would be necessary to have representative outstanding works from all along the time line. Rita Frischer --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.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: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
RE: [ha-Safran]: Historic Jewish Children's Books
Potentially, yes. All sorts of things end up in Special Collections and for any number of reasons. I gave a paper at one of our conventions in the 1990's on "What is a Rare Book?" Dan Rettberg Daniel J. Rettberg, Ph.D. Rare Book and Manuscript Bibliographer Klau Library Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion 3101 Clifton Avenue Cincinati, OH 45220-2488 drettb...@huc.edu --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.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: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
RE: [ha-Safran]: Historic Jewish Children's books
Thank you, Linda. This occurred to me sometime after I wrote in, but I never got around to sharing the thought. Dan Rettberg drettb...@huc.edu --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.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: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
Re: [ha-Safran]: Historic Jewish Children's Books
Shalom Safanim. I wonder if approaching an institution like the Cotsen Children's Library at Princeton (I believe the director is Andrea Immel) would prove useful. B'chavod rav. Shmuel Ben-Gad, Gelman Library, George Washington University. --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.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: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
RE: [ha-Safran]: Historic Jewish Children's Books
Dear Safranim, I may have copies in my archive of original Kar-Ben Publishing children's books from 30+ years ago that I would be willing to donate for archival purposes, if there are certain titles that might be of interest for your collection. Cordially, Joni Sussman Publisher Kar-Ben Publishing --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.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: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
