J.D.B. News Letter

(By Our Detroit Correspondent)

Detroit’s Jewish cultural activities, if the circulation of books is a criterion, have gained during the past year. Judging by the figures that are being quoted by Miss Ruth Cowgill, chief of the foreign division of the Detroit Public Library, continued gains are to be expected during the coming year.

A report on the progress of the department has been prepared by Miss Cowgill. This report shows that 10,800 books in Yiddish were circulated by the library last year. Secondly, Yiddish ranks fourth among the foreign language circulations, and because French, which ranks third, is said to have such a large circulation for academic and school purposes, Yiddish is placed in third place by library authorities. All told the library has 20,000 books in 26 foreign languages, and a circulation of 100,000 is registered for the past year.

The city of Detroit ranks among the largest German and Polish populated centers in the country. German heads the circulation list of foreign books with 29,499 for the past year, and Polish follows with 22,100. A proportionate comparison– there are more than a quarter of a million Poles in Detroit as compared with about 70,000 Jews—gives Yiddish a commanding position in these figures. There are altogether 2,400 Yiddish books and 300 Hebrew books that have circulated among the 10,800 readers.

Until recently, the collection of Hebrew and Yiddish books was centered in the Ginsburg Branch Library. This branch was named in honor of Bernard Ginsburg, prominent Detroit Jewish leader who was formerly a member of the Library Commission. In the unprecedentedly rapid flow of the Jewish population toward the north and west, this branch was left among a population with completely different tastes and a small desire for books. The building was turned over to the Recreation Commission. The problem of the library was a difficult one, until it was decided to move it, and the Yiddish and Hebrew collections were placed in the Utley Branch, which was picked as the most conveniently located of library agencies. being in the center of the stream of the moving population and very accessible from two street-car lines.

Accordingly, these two collections of Hebrew and Yiddish books have been placed and pooled there, with a Jewish assistant, J. Yanowitz, in charge, under the supervision of Miss McCulloch who is the librarian. A room has been set aside at this branch for the exclusive use of the Jewish collection.

Miss Cowgil, in outlining the progress of the Jewish branch of the library, declared that the demand is beginning to grow and occasional calls for Yiddish and Hebrew books come from branches far removed from the Utley Library. An exchange system, in force for the general library service, has therefore also been applied for the Jewish books which are being circulated in other branch libraries by request.

The present collection of Hebrew and Yiddish books, Miss Cowgill said, will be increased from year to year, according to the demand as indicated by the circulation. Following advice she received from Rabbi Leon Fram of Temple Beth E1, Bernard Isaacs, the superintendent of the United Hebrew Schools, and a number of other Jewish leaders, a large collection of new Hebrew and Yiddish books has been ordered. The present collection includes complete sets in Yiddish, Hebrew and some in both, of the works of Perez, Graetz’s History, the works of Herzl, Mendele Mocher Seforim, Raizin, Rosenfeld, Zhitlovsky, Pinski, Goldfaden, Leivick, Bialik and other works.

Speaking of the foreign division in the library, and the Yiddsh group as a part of it, the Library Commission in its last report stated:

“Detroit has, by its immense industrial field, attracted a very large number of immigrants. It continues to do so, as witness the 34,000 who came to Michigan last year–the largest, next to that of New York, going to any one State. With two-thirds of its population foreign-born, or only one generation removed from foreign birth, it behooves the city to take account of this factor in its population.

“An adult can never be deprived of his nationality, but he can be made a citizen, and it is the business of the educational agencies of the city to see that the immigrant has the incentive and the opportunity to become an educated and useful one. One approach to this goal is through the foreign literatures. The man who loves his native country and knows and appreciates her best thought is bound to be a good citizen of whatever country he adopts. The qualities of good taste and intelligence are transferable from one country to another and they are transmissable to the third and fourth generations.”

Dr. Leo M. Franklin, Rabbi of Temple Beth E1, is secretary of the Detroit Public Library Commission.