Hebrew-English library set to open Sunday at Campus

Having lived in the United States for many years, Israeli native Michal Dishon-Alon was an avid bilingual reader. So after she died in September, her husband, Dr. Uri Alon, decided that a Hebrew-English library would be a fitting memorial.

Thus, at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31, there will be a reception in the Jewish Community Campus chapel for the new Michal Dishon-Alon Memorial Library.

According to Dr. Alon, it amounts to a shelf full of books and periodicals — most in Hebrew, but some in English by Israeli authors — plus an associated Web site, www.michal-library.com.

“The last time we came back from Israel, in July 2009, we brought back a lot of books,” said Dr. Alon. “And when she had read them, Michal … said we have to find a way to share these books with others.”

After Dishon-Alon died in September, Dr. Alon consulted with, among others, Jewish Federation Israel Emissary Matan Rotman about ways to “continue her spiritual will” in the form of a bilingual library.

“Matan became enthusiastic about the project, and we got financial support from Michal’s mother to buy books and other things,” Dr. Alon explained. Campus authorities designated a space within the chapel, while the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy donated shelves.

That is fitting because HBHA students will likely be among the most regular users of the library, which will open with about 300 books and 100 more on order.

“In that sense, it can be called an Israeli library, and not just a Hebrew library, because there will be also a section of Israeli authors — Grossman, Oz and Shalev — in English,” Dr. Alon said. “And of course there will be books in Hebrew — fiction and non-fiction — and some DVDs.” In addition, the library will subscribe to some periodicals, including an Israeli newspaper written for beginning Hebrew readers.

Potential patrons will be able to view the available holdings via the library’s Web site and reserve books for pickup at the Campus, Dr. Alon said. A librarian will come in once or twice a week, he said, to restock shelves and otherwise manage the collection.

“It will be an honor system,” said Dr. Alon. People who borrow books will be asked to fill out a simple card indicating what they have done, he said.

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Write comment