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Lila & Joseph Scher Library

Welcome to the JCC Library. We are happy you have found your way to our home in Cyberspace, but we also invite you to visit us at our wonderful facility inside the JCC.

  The library is undergoing an extensive renovation, thanks to volunteer librarian Judy Hartstone, assisted by Stacey Matson. We have a new look, and soon will have a new online catalog and a top-notch inventory.

In the meantime, the library is still open, and in addition we have a book cart overflowing with great books at bargain basement prices!

The JCC Library collections offer more than 2,000 titles covering a vast range of Jewish subjects, from mysticism and meditation to histories of the Jews and Judaism, from cookbooks, children’s books, and the latest novels by Jewish authors to biblical texts.  You can also find art books, videos, CD’s, and reference works, as well as books in Hebrew and Yiddish.
Also included are videotaped interviews of Portraits of Survival participants (in collaboration with the UCSB Department of Film Studies).

Our thanks to the original Library Committee for a great job putting our library together: Ethel Scar, Barbara Marx and Arlene Schneider, along with Cecia Hess and Julie Rusznak (not pictured), spent many hours organizing the library at the BFJCC.
Thanks to Leon Gold for cataloging the entire collection.
Many thanks to Dabrina Koehn, our volunteer library manager from Jan. 2009-Jan. 2011.
Currently, Judy Hartstone (a retired librarian) has taken the reins and is being assisted by volunteer & Federation Board Member Stacey Matson.

 

Judy Hartstone
Judy Hartstone
Stacey Matson
Stacey Matson

 

 

 

 

 

Library Committee Ethel Scar, Barbara Marx and Arlene Schneider

Helpful Library Links

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/index.html

http://www.yiddishdictionaryonline.com

http://www.yivoinstitute.org
YIVO preserves manuscripts, rare books, and diaries, and other Yiddish sources.  The YIVO Library in New York contains over 385,000 volumes dating from as early as the 16th century.  The YIVO Archives holds over 24,000,000 documents, photographs, recordings, posters, films, posters, and other artifacts.  Together, they comprise the world's largest collection of materials related to the history and culture of Central and East European Jewry and the American Jewish immigrant experience.

http://www.worldcat.org
WorldCat is a union catalog, which itemizes the collections of 71,000 libraries in 112 countries that participate in the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) global cooperative.  It is built and maintained collectively by the participating libraries.

Children’s Library
Be sure to visit the Children's Library, a brightly colored, welcoming place. Here's a place to find a Jewish story to read to your children or grandchildren. Please refer to our Children & Family Programs for library and other activities.

Our thanks to Carol DeCanio, who started our collection with a donation of many new books, just waiting for you! We also have PJ Library books!Children's Library

Jewish Genealogy Resources
Our library now has a Jewish Genealogy section, including a binder of helpful resources.
Thanks to an anonymous volunteer for her hard work!

Click here to download a document listing major genealogy websites including:
Research Guides
Local/Regional Jewish Genealogy Groups
Vital Records
Immigration Records
Naturalization Records
Locating Ancestral Towns/Historical Maps
Holocaust Research
Yizkor Books