Beth Hillel Synagogue
A Conservative Synagogue for the Hartford Area

How the Library was rejuvenated.....

Beginning in July of 2006, Iris Atkins had a vision:  To bring our synagogue library back to life; to restore it to what she imagined it had been in its glory days; to update materials – books/videos/periodicals; to once again attract borrowers, both young and young-at-heart; to make the library a gathering place, a place where people would want to congregate, hold meetings, have coffee klatches.....

First, though, the library needed to be made more inviting.  That may have been the easier part.  We found an “angel” whose generosity allowed us to replace dingy, dark, broken curtains with light and airy vertical blinds.  Marian and crew moved shelves that had made the entrance to the library uninviting, now allowing light to shine through our newly decorated picture window.  Planning meetings were set up – the first one bringing a dozen interested congregants.  Approximately 25 volunteers showed up at the second meeting, bringing fresh ideas, a commitment to work hard, and, most importantly, enthusiasm and energy to doing whatever it took to reinvigorate our shul library.

Committees worked diligently to bring to fruition a special weekend in October 2007:  Library Renaissance Shabbat.  Volunteers have worked on a Mission Statement; on brainstorming an appropriate name for the occasion; on sorting through library books to ascertain whether or not they should be kept (or donated); on re-shelving books; on adding pockets and title cards where needed; on setting up a checkout system; on decorating the library; on planning the special Oneg (generously sponsored by the Needelman family) and Kiddush; on sorting the myriad books we have received from congregants’ personal libraries.  They have done this on their own personal time... without pay, even as they continued to donate their time to other Beth Hillel efforts and programs. 

We look forward to book reviews; to outside facilitators; to special outings (...for example, the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts).  Meetings are being held in the library; it is now necessary to “book” your time there!  New life IS being breathed into that special room.  She was happy...no, thrilled...to pass by the library on Yom Kippur...and to see our youth – preteens and teenagers –lounging on beanbag chairs, lost in the books they were reading. What she once thought of as a “potential” gem... a “potential” asset to Beth Hillel Synagogue...is well on its way.