SOMETHING FROM NOTHING: Creating a Library at Beth Shalom of The Woodlands
Congregation Beth Shalom of The Woodlands Our history In 1982, a small group of Jewish families living forty miles north of Houston formed a havurah which grew into the only Jewish congregation in Montgomery County, TX. Our children are a small minority in area schools and need support to develop and maintain a Jewish identity. Many members are converts or have non- Jewish spouses.
We grew from meeting in homes to leasing space for services and our religious school. At first we had visiting rabbis, but hired our own in 1994.
We purchased and renovated our first building, a former church, in 1998. Rabbi/Architect Jim Brandt Beshert
Home At Last a Home!! CBSW 5125 Shadowbend Place
At the time our library was several boxes of donated children s books which we had carried from location to location to location. At 5125 Shadowbend, members added wooden shelving to one of the classrooms to serve as a makeshift library. Books were checked out by writing your name on an index card pulled from a pocket at the end of the book. The cards were left in an plastic box and put back in the book when it was returned.
As we grew, we needed more space.
We imagined it. In 2000, Evelyn Waldron, Chair of the Education Committee insisted we set down our goals in a Five Year Plan. All of them seemed impossible, but we wrote them down anyway. We wished for a library.
Fundraising For New Building Began April 22, 2004 Co-Chairmen Sol Sachs and Richard Davis thank the many donors listed on the Donor Wall in the lobby of the old building.
Members completed surveys to prioritize how to best use the space in a new building. A library and a social hall were ranked first. We planned while funds were raised.
We built our new building, which would include a social hall, kitchen, teen room, board room, bathrooms, and a LIBRARY! Breaking Ground: October 2005 how we got from here
Under Construction to here
New Building Dedicated on March 19, 2006 to here
to here!
Purchasing decisions were made by committee based on multiple bids and drawing from the experience and abilities of our members. Everything from chair selection to the hall water fountain to the light fixtures to the flooring required hours of shopping and trying on.
Donations: A family donated $15,000 to furnish the library as a memorial to their mother $1367.92 -- 2 gray chairs $1350.00 -- 10 Sauder 3-position chairs $10,550.00--J&S equipment for adjustable shelving $424 wooden book truck $2,632 Dell computer and book processing supplies
One family donated $750 for the mezuzah and additional books One family donated funds for the Aleph-Bet story rug and the scanner. Two families donated a used computer and printer. An adult Bnai Mitzvah class donated $900 for the Torah Study table.
The furniture arrived in August, 2006. The Dell arrived on October, 2006. (Yom Kippur lightning strike.) We were ready to automate. A community built this library, but one person has processed the books.
Over 2,000 books have been processed. (Our congregation averages 165 families.) CBSW uses Book System s Concourse and ezcat programs. Records are usually downloaded from the Library of Congress or the Brooklyn Public Library. The work is often done on Christmas Eve or other school holidays.
Items That Have Not Been Processed Reference Books* Prayer Books* Books in Hebrew* DVDs and Other Media Equipment * Librarian lacks expertise in these areas.
Before the Move Sort books into three categories 1. Discarded Weed Them Now! 2.Processed Books 3. Unprocessed Books Sign up volunteers to Transport Books Stamp Books Label the Shelves Set-Out Book Supports
Touring the Library Multi-Use Corner by Front Door A Music School rents the library when CBSW isn t using it.
Art books on display over our reference section
Computers, scanner, and printer are needed for an automated library. This is our processing, circulation, and look-up station.
Display case and reading chairs.
Volunteers: Readers Volunteers
(Expect the unexpected. Appreciate everyone.)
Storytellers
Shelvers and Cleaners
Collection Development The Whole Megillah blog by Barbara Krasner Best Jewish Books For Children and Teen by Linda Silver JCC Houston Book Fairs Librarian s attendance at Jewish-Themed Children s Writing Conferences Synagogue Book Club The Jewish Herald Librarian s attendance at TLA and SCBWI Conferences
Library Middot 1. Accompany children under 13. 2.Access information from the computers not for gaming. 3. Sign out or check out materials before removing them from the library. 4.Enjoy food and drinks in the social hall, kitchen, or teen room, not the library. 5. Show respect for books, computers, and library users.
Today s Challenges: How to acquire and manage digital books How to train congregants to look-up books on the computer and locate books in the library when we don t have a webbased library program. How to acquire, train, and retain volunteers.
Ongoing Financial Needs Software fees are around $500 a year, part of the yearly CBSW Budget. Funding from donations to the dedicated library fund goes mostly for books, but once paid the air fare for the volunteer librarian to attend a conference of Jewish children s writers.
Helpful Contacts For Library Furnishings: *www.tesco-ind.com www.demco.com www.gaylord.com www.buckstaff.com (Compare shipping costs.) Questions about creating something from nothing? Contact dede@dedefox.com
Had Adonai brought us into the woods and helped us find one another, Dayeinu! Had Adonai helped us find our spiritual leaders and educators, Dayeinu! Had Adonai supported our members in times of stress, Dayeinu! Had Adonai blessed us with our CBSW families, Dayeinu! Had Adonai sustained us in our search for a spiritual home and a LIBRARY, Dayeinu!
Dayeinu! Congregation Beth Shalom of the Woodlands June, 2013