People of the
Book
New Jewish library opens in Oak Park.
STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
O
ak Park has a new place for Detroit’s entire Jewish community to curl up with a book and a mask, or to borrow a few reads to enjoy from the social distance of one’s home. Realizing the need for a library that caters not only to Oak Park’s Orthodox Jewish population but to any local Jewish person in the area seeking knowledge and community, Rabbi Ari Rabbi Ari Kostelitz Kostelitz of
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Congregation Dovid ben Nuchim opened the library to instill a love of reading and Jewish learning for all Jews. “We believe in educating children to be proud of their Jewish background and history and a lot of that can happen through books,” Kostelitz said. “In today’s world, kids are so in tune with technology, but not enough are reading books. Creating this library has been a lot of work, but when we opened and saw kids sitting on the new colorful furniture with an
COURTESY OF THE DETROIT JEWISH LIBRARY
OUR COMMUNITY
open book, it was all worth it. Anyone who wants a Torah education is welcome to come in and borrow a book.” On Feb. 13, the Detroit Jewish Library, located inside the Dovid ben Nuchim building, 14800 W. Lincoln, opened to nearly 500 people in its first hours of operation, with some coming back later in the week to check out even more books. Due to COVID precautions, only 10 patrons at a time entered to browse the shelves and wore masks throughout their visit. As visitors — mostly mothers with children — waited their turn, they kept warm and socially distant in the synagogue’s spacious banquet hall. The 900 square-foot Detroit Jewish Library contains a growing collection of almost 4,000 brand-new books. The project cost $200,000 and was made possible by the generosity of an anonymous donor. The
enticing colorful interior with cozy shelves and sitting areas is designed to be a welcoming space for children, but the library also features adult books from topics that range from Torah commentary to history to cookbooks to inspirational self-help books with an Orthodox twist. Expecting that the books will get a lot of love and use, all have been carefully double bound for durability. The library is open three days per week: Sunday 1:30-4 p.m., Tuesday 5:30-7 p.m. and Friday 1:30-2:45 p.m. Families pay an annual membership fee of $35 to join and can take out two books per family member per visit. Books can be loaned for a week with an opportunity to renew for an additional week over the phone. Patrons receive their own library card with a barcode and patron number just as they would from a public library.
