Association of Jewish Libraries

The Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) is an international organization dedicated to the production, collection, organization and dissemination of Judaic resources and library/media/information service. AJL has members in the United States, Canada, Israel and over 22 other countries.

It was formed through a merger of two organizations: The Jewish Librarians Association, founded in 1946, which concerned itself with collections of Judaica in academic, archival or research institutions, and The Jewish Library Association, founded in 1962, which concerned itself with collections in the synagogue, school and community, as well as other smaller libraries and media centres.

Contents

Publications

The Association of Jewish Libraries publishes several serials including a scholarly journal Judaica Librarianship and the electronic quarterly AJL News and AJL Reviews. AJL also has an electronic mailing list called Hasafran (Hebrew for the librarian).

Awards

The Association of Jewish Libraries awards the Sydney Taylor Book Award (external link) annually for books that authentically portray the Jewish experience in children's literature, and the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award for the most promising unpublished Judaic manuscript for children.

The Association also awards the Judaica Reference and Bibliography Awards for outstanding scholarly reference works and bibliographies.

Conventions

The AJL Convention, held annually, is a valuable way for Judaica librarians to share ideas, learn, and network with their peers.

Locations of past conventions

References

External links