April, 2021 — The Association of Jewish Libraries encourages the publication of outstanding works of Judaica reference and bibliography through its annual awards.
We are pleased to announce the following awards:
- Bibliography award: Stone, Gerald K. Catalog of the Gerald K. Stone Collection of Judaica: A Bibliographical Resource for Canadian Jewish Studies. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2020.
- Reference award: Udel, Miriam. Honey on the Page: A Treasury of Yiddish Children’s Literature. Forward by Jack Zipes. New York: NYU Press, 2020.
- Honorary mention (Reference): Barsky, Zvi. Ḥanut ṿe-taṿit: mokhre sefarim be-Erets Yiśraʼel, 1870-1948 (English title: Making a Mark: Booksellers in Palestine, 1870-1948). Jerusalem: Mi-neged hotsaʼah la-or, 2019.
This year’s awardees exemplify AJL’s mission to foster and promote access to information, learning, teaching and research.
AJL’s Reference and Bibliography Committee agree that Catalog of The Gerald K. Stone Collection of Judaica will serve as a valuable and fascinating resource for scholars of Canadian Jewry. In this monumental work, Gerald Stone has organized, indexed, and annotated his collection of nearly 6,000 printed items relating to myriad aspects of Jewish life in Canada. Honey on the Page (title and charming cover illustration notwithstanding) is a scholarly work that will serve as an important reference for researchers in numerous fields, not least of which is the burgeoning study of children’s literature. The notes on translation will be of great interest to scholars of Yiddish. And of course, children, both at home and in religious schools, will also enjoy the stories! Ḥanut ṿe-taṿit (Making a Mark) is a powerful reference tool not just for librarians, but also for researchers as well as for booksellers themselves. At the same time, it reads as a narrative of the adventures and misadventures of book traders in Palestine (Yehezkel Steimatzky among them) before the establishment of the State of Israel. This beautiful work will entertain experts and amateurs alike.
For their commitment and continuing support of these awards, AJL would like to recognize and thank Dr. Greta Silver of New York (Reference Award) and Mr. Eric Kline of Santa Monica (Bibliography Award).
For more information, contact:
Anna M. Levia, Chair
Reference and Bibliography Awards Committee, Association of Jewish Libraries
amlevia@stanford.edu