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E. Brunswick library to add Hebrew to the stacks

Israelis succeed in push to start Ivrit book = section

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The East Brunswick Public Library will begin lending out = Hebrew-language=20 books in August in response to requests by the many Israelis living in = the=20 municipality.

Photo by Debra Rubin

Reading material

Anyone wishing to donate Hebrew-language books to the East Brunswick = Public=20 Library, located at 2 Jean Walling Civic Center in East Brunswick, = should call=20 732-390-6950. Only works published in 2007 or 2008 are now being=20 accepted.

by Debra=20 Rubin
NJJN Bureau Chief/Middlesex

July 22, 2008

A Hebrew language section is expected to open in August at the East = Brunswick=20 Public Library, providing members of the growing Israeli community there = with a=20 source of books in their native language.

The move brings to a close a four-year push by Israeli native Ayelet = Ben-Zvi=20 to add Hebrew to the library=E2=80=99s foreign language collections, = which, she said,=20 has sections of works in Arabic, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, = and=20 Russian.

=E2=80=9CI came to America eight years ago and after I had my third = child I needed to=20 have some books to read to them,=E2=80=9D said Ben-Zvi. =E2=80=9COf = course, I read English but=20 there are so many Israelis here, and I wanted books to read to them in=20 Hebrew.=E2=80=9D

Ben-Zvi also realized that, like other Israelis, she had books that = she had=20 already read that could be given to the library to be used by = others.

=E2=80=9CWhy have them just lying around the house?=E2=80=9D she = said. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s not good for us=20 and it=E2=80=99s not good for the environment.=E2=80=9D

Ben-Zvi first enlisted the help of Rabbi Eric Milgrim of Temple = B=E2=80=99nai Shalom=20 in East Brunswick and Rebecca Brenowitz, cochair of the Israel Task = Force of the=20 Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater = Middlesex=20 County and then member of the East Brunswick Human Relations Committee. = They=20 approached the library with the idea of launching a Hebrew section.

Library officials initially rebuffed them because they didn=E2=80=99t = feel there were=20 enough native Hebrew speakers to justify such a section.

The library based its decision on the practice of =E2=80=9Climited=20 English-proficiency tracking=E2=80=9D conducted in the public schools, = which, Ben-Zvi=20 said, was not accurate.

When children are enlisted in public school, she explained, they are = checked=20 on their English-speaking ability. But, Ben-Zvi said, many Israelis, = because=20 they also speak English and did not want their children to go through = the=20 testing, did not indicate they were native Hebrew speakers.

Additionally, Ben-Zvi said, some Israeli residents send their = children to=20 Solomon Schechter of Raritan Valley =E2=80=94 and so are not part of the = tracking system=20 =E2=80=94 while others simply do not have school-age children.

Undeterred, Ben-Zvi enlisted the help of another Israeli, Liti = Haramaty, and=20 they set about marshaling other Israelis in East Brunswick as they = continued to=20 press their case.

In the interim, they opened a mini-library at Anshe Emeth Memorial = Temple in=20 New Brunswick, but, Ben-Zvi said, because of the distance, it was rarely = used.

=E2=80=98A new wind=E2=80=99

The matter came to a head in March when the Israelis were invited to = a board=20 of trustees meeting at the library, where there had been some = administrative=20 staff changes.

=E2=80=9CLiti said to me, =E2=80=98Ayelet, I feel things are starting = to change at the=20 library,=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D said Ben-Zvi. =E2=80=9CThere was like a new = wind.=E2=80=9D

At the meeting, she recalled being surprised at how many Israelis = showed up,=20 adding, =E2=80=9CWe saw some new faces even we didn=E2=80=99t = know.=E2=80=9D

Some board members =E2=80=9Cunderstood right way that it was the = library=E2=80=99s job to=20 allow everybody to enjoy books,=E2=80=9D she said.

About a month later, the library informed the Israelis they would = allow the=20 Hebrew section on a one-year trial basis. Whether it will become = permanent will=20 depend on usage, said Ben-Zvi.

Adult services librarian Stephanie Nye told NJJN she is = =E2=80=9Ccataloging=20 and processing the books=E2=80=A6. We=E2=80=99ve already made space in = our world languages=20 section. We expect to have the books ready in August.=E2=80=9D

Because East Brunswick allows anyone working or attending school in = the=20 municipality to take books out of its library, Ben-Zvi said, students = and=20 teachers at Schechter could also benefit.

Brenowitz said the credit for the new section should go to the = Israelis who=20 refused to drop the issue.

=E2=80=9CTo me it=E2=80=99s unbelievable; it=E2=80=99s = incredible,=E2=80=9D she said. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s what they wanted=20 and the Israelis all got together with great force and were able to = convince=20 library officials.=E2=80=9D

The collection will start with donated books published in 2007 or = 2008.=20 Collections began in May and although only 11 or 12 books have so far = been=20 donated, Ben-Zvi said she expects that number to jump after the summer = when many=20 Israelis return from visiting friends and family in Israel, bringing new = reading=20 material with them.

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