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Committees
The Association of Jewish Libraries has a variety of committees that
provide service to the membership and to the field of Judaica librarianship.
If you would l ike to serve on one of the committees described below,
please contact the chair of the committee listed, or contact AJL president
Laurel Wolfson for general inquiries
about participation in AJL activities.
Accreditation Committee
The charge of the Accreditation Committee is to: 1) design accreditation
instruments for Synagogue, School and Center Division libraries; 2)
review completed accreditation forms and award Basic and Advanced Status
to those libraries who qualify; 3) advise and mentor libraries who request
help reaching accreditation status; and 4) publicize the accreditation
process in appropriate venues and publications. Contact: Susan
Greening.
Chapter Relations Committee
The Chapter Relations Committee has the responsibility to form geographic
chapters by studying the demographics of the national membership.
It consults with all chapters and is available to answer questions and
advise chapters as well as to assist members in setting up programs.
The Committee arranges for the annual meetings of chapter presidents
at the annual AJL convention. It encourages every chapter member to
become a member of national AJL. Chapters should be helped to understand
that membership in National AJL increases their professional stature
and gives the profession of Judaica librarianship more influence in
matters that affect them such as salary levels, rank in institutions
and topics relating to Jewish libraries. Contact: Irene
K. Seff, chair; Roz Reisner,
co-chair.
Local Convention Committee
The Local Convention Committee plans and coordinates all aspects
of the annual convention, including: working with the national chair
to locate a hotel, arranging for meals and entertainment, planning the
programming, soliciting vendors for the book fair, recruiting volunteers,
and coordinating with national committees--everything necessary for
those attending to have an enlightening, educational, and enriching
experience during the convention. The 2007 Convention will be held in
Phoenix, Arizona.
National Convention Committee
The National Convention Committee serves to advise, support, and
assist the local convention chairs in planning and presenting the annual
AJL National Convention. The committee
also encourages and fosters an interest in presenting Regional Conferences
to address the professional needs of members who cannot attend National
Convention and to attract librarians who may not be familiar with AJL.
Contacts: Fred Isaac,
Rick Burke.
Convention Travel Stipend Committee
The Convention Travel Stipend Committee reviews all applications
requesting funds to travel to the convention city. The committee makes
every effort to accomodate all in need of a stipend. The amount of money
granted applicants is based on current airline rates and the distance
the applicant must travel to attend the convention. Contact: TBA
Convention Proceedings Committee
The Proceedings Committee is responsible for establishing guidelines,
and collecting, publishing, and distributing the Proceedings
to its members as soon as possible after the convention. The AJL publications
vice-president has the direct responsibility for publishing and distributing
the Proceedings. The Proceedings are a record of Judaica
librarianship papers presented at annual AJL conventions. Contact:
Joan Biella.
International Liaison
The charge of the International Liaison is to organize a panel
or panels at international conferences that have a library or Jewish
studies component. The committee makes contact with appropriate organizations
sponsoring the conference and arranges sponsorship or joint sponsorship
of one or more panels devoted to Judaica librarianship. The committee
then solicits papers and decides on which papers to accept. The panel
is then organized and the information is forwared to the sponsoring
organization. The committee maintains contact with the participants,
and publicizes the event. Contact: Edith
Lubetski.
Life Membership and Fanny Goldstein Award Committee
With the advice of the Board & Council, the committee selects AJL
members to be honored at the annual convention. The Fanny
Goldstein Merit Award, named for the librarian, social activist
and founder of National Jewish Book Month, is bestowed in recognition
of loyal and ongoing contributions to the Association and to the profession
of Jewish librarianship. Life Membership
is granted in recognition of outstanding leadership and professional
contributions to the Association and to the profession of Jewish librarianship.
Contact: Elizabeth Stabler.
Mentoring Committee
The AJL Mentoring Program endeavors to assist fledgling Jewish librarians
find the answers they need through a personal relationship with an experienced
librarian best suited to help them. We strive to match library type,
classification system and automation software, as well as geographic
region as much as possible. The committee has compiled a bibiliography
of mentoring resources.
Contact: ajlmentoring@gmail.com.
Professional Development and Continuing Education Committee
The mission of the Professional Development and Continuing Education
Committee is to make AJL members more aware of the latest advances in
information science and more knowledgeable in the Judaica subject matters
related to their work. The committee has a long history of initiating
CEU classes, workshops and distance learning activities. Currently the
committee is emphasizing its AJL Institute for Judaica Librarianship,
which is the base framework for the annual CEU classes at the annual
convention, the traveling seminar, and the mid-year professional workshop.
In addition committee members Susan Freiband and Barbara Leff are developing
a distance learning course. Contact: Sara
Spiegel.
Publicity Committee
The Publicity Committee's charge is a work in progress. We are currently
examining the tasks and attempting to define those that can most effectively
be done by the Committee. One of the most immediate needs is the updating
of the mailing list. Once that is accomplished, the maintenance of the
list will be one of the Committee's primary charges. Writing press releases
and assisting committee chairs in writing their own press releases is
another responsibility. Another role for the Publicity Committee might
be to have members write articles that feature a member library or librarian.
Contact: Abigail Yasgur
and Heidi Estrin.
RAS Cataloging Committee
The charge of the RAS Cataloging Committee is to act as a liaison with the Cataloging Policy and Support Office (CPSO) of the Library of Congress on issues affecting Judaica cataloging including subject problems raised by RAS Division members, and suggest possible solutions; and to educate members as to new policies or procedures affecting Judaica cataloging in the form of workshops at AJL conventions and/or a cataloging column in one of the AJL publications. Committee members maintain a wiki containing meeting agendas and minutes as well as notifications of changes in romanization. Contact: Daniel Lovins.
Scholarship Committee
The Scholarship Committee is responsible for sending announcements of
the AJL scholarship competition
to all accredited American and Canadian library schools; selecting the
winner(s); publicizing the fund via the AJL Newsletter and announcing
donations in the newsletter; sending notes of acknowledgement to those
in whose honor, or family of those in whose memory, donations are made. Contact: Sarah Barnard and Lynn Feinman.
Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee
The six-member Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee is charged with annually
selecting the winners of the Sydney
Taylor Book Award and with implementing the process by which the
winners are selected, publicized, and presented. Committee members review
and evaluate books submitted by publishers for the award. Usually two
are selected—one for older readers and one for younger readers.
In addition, several books are chosen for honors in each age category.
The committee compiles an annual list of notable children's books of
Jewish content, a bookmark listing all of the winners, and a collection
of all of the committee's reviews written within the year. It also presents
a program at the annual AJL convention and hosts the winners at the
convention banquet where awards are presented. Members of the committee
must be members of AJL National and must have broad knowledge of Judaic
children's literature as well as experience in writing evaluative reviews.
They are expected to meet deadlines and to participate in annual conventions.
A committee term lasts for four years. Contact: Rachel
Kamin.
Sydney Taylor Manuscript Competition Committee
The six-member Sydney Taylor Manuscript Competition Committee is charged
with annually selecting the winners of the Sydney
Taylor Manuscript Award and with implementing the process by which
the winners are selected, publicized, and presented. Committee members
review and evaluate manuscripts submitted by authors for the award.
The members read the submitted manuscripts, after the committee chair
has determined that they meet the basic criteria of the competition,
such as length, age appropriateness, content, etc. Each member votes
on whether or not they feel the manuscript is a contender (the committee
chair votes only in the case of a tie). If at least 2 members agree
that it is a possible contender, those are submitted to everyone at
the end for the final vote. The manuscripts are sent around to the committee
members as soon as they are received so that the evaluations begin immediately.
An effort is made to have a committee that is geographically and philosophically
diverse to reflect the makeup of AJL. Contact: Aileen
Grossberg.
Weine Users Group
Contact: Joan Gremont
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