Yiddish Book Center’s “Stories of Exile”

Written by Brooke Rose

 

Last summer, the Programming Librarian advertised a grant opportunity for the Yiddish Book Center’s “‘Stories of Exile’ Reading Groups for Public Libraries.” The grant provides public libraries with materials, resources, and training to host reading groups built around the concepts of exile and diaspora with a focus Yiddish literature. We were awarded the grant, along with 28 other libraries across the US, and I attended the training at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts on January 22-24.

The Yiddish Book Center was founded in 1980 by Aaron Lansky, who at the time was a graduate student studying the Yiddish language. Aaron and his fellow Yiddish students made it their mission to collect as many texts written in Yiddish as possible and to make them more accessible to the general public. They anticipated gathering 40,000 books, but today the Yiddish Book Center is home to just over 1 million pieces of literature, which they are working on translating into English and making available in the public domain.

Throughout the training, we listened to presentations and had group discussions on the concepts of diaspora, exile, and immigration, how these concepts apply to the specific books provided by the grant, and best practices for discussing these concepts in reading groups. Under the terms of the grant, we are required to use On the Landing by Yenta Mash, Land of the Postscript by Chava Rosenfarb, and The Glatstein Chronicles by Jacob Glatstein. Additionally, we are expected to choose at least one other book that we feel reflects our community, and we are considering Border Less by Namrata Poddar to represent our thriving Indian-American population.

Many of our patrons who have lived through the circumstances of dispossession, exile, migration, and/or diaspora would find their own experiences reflected in the literature and may benefit from sharing their own stories with others. Another goal of this program is to help other patrons who have not had these experiences understand and empathize with the condition of such a rapidly growing demographic in their community.

Learn more about the Yiddish Book Center with these videos!

• “Inside the Yiddish Book Center” on CBS Saturday Morning
• “A Bridge of Books: The Story of the National Yiddish Book Center”

Special thank you to Jessica Doss for bringing this grant opportunity to my attention and to Leslie Marinelli for helping gather information for the proposal!