The Book of Life

White supremacists are targeting the Jewish community with a "National Day of Hate” on February 25, 2023. Publicly, they are planning for vandalism and intimidation, but it will be unsurprising if violence occurs as well.  At this time, I call upon all Book of Life listeners, and everyone who cares about peace and justice, to let the world know that you stand with the Jews. Whether you are Jewish or Gentile, please join the Anti-Defamation League in taking action. This horrific day of hate is taking place two days after my birthday. I would consider it a great gift  if you were to join me in doing any of the simple advocacy actions below: Let your elected representatives know that hate is not OK, at  https://www.adl.org/take-action/advocate-with-adl .  Choose any action on The Book of Life's "Justice" page, and do it today. See  https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/p/stand-up.html Use and share the Association of Jewish Libraries' "Love Your Neighbor" book

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly roundup of Jewish literary links from across the blogosphere. Sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries, it is hosted by a different blog each month and shares book reviews, author interviews, essays, and other blog posts about Jewish books. Visit the Jewish Book Carnival HQ for the upcoming schedule, past Carnivals, and to learn how to participate! On STORYSTORM, Tara Lazar's month-long idea project at the blog Writing For Kids (While Raising Them), forthcoming Jewish board books were featured on Day 12.   Illustrator Ann D. Koffsky offers a new Tu Bishevat coloring page , with a picture of a reader relaxing under a tree. On her blog Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, Deborah  interviewed Omer Bartov  about his new novel, The Butterfly and the Axe . Gila Green interviewed author Stephen J. Gordon about his new thriller The Student and the  challenges of writing Israel-based books. Batya at the blog A Jewish Grandmother reviewed   Charr

4th National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color St. Pete Beach, Florida February 8-12, 2023 On February 9, 2023 I presented "A Place at the Table: The Jewish Community Within the Library Diversity World" at the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color, an event sponsored by JCLC, the Joint Council of Librarians of Color . This umbrella organization addresses the common needs of ALA affiliates for BIPOC librarians:  the American Indian Library Association (AILA), the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), and REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking. The main thrust of my presentation was a crash course in the marginalization of Jews and the interconnection between antisemitism and racism, with the goal of demonstrating why Jews should be included in equity, diversity, an