Preserving the Legacy: The Library

(click image to read a letter from Rabbi Schulweis)

The keystone of the Institute is the Library, in the tradition of a Presidential library. It is composed of Rabbi Schulweis’ book collection placed in a dedicated library room, and on-line recording and document library collections which enable Internet access to Rabbi Schulweis’ written and spoken legacy. These catalogued collections will make available his material works: his books, and articles, transcripts and digital recordings of sermons and addresses, together with selected recordings, papers, essays, and monographs authored and presented by many distinguished colleagues. All information regarding the titles, locations, and availability status of the collections within the physical and on-line libraries will be available globally through Internet search engine access, and also supported by the VBS library computer cataloging system.

Central to the creation of all the library collections is the first phase, currently underway, of discovery, collection, cataloguing, storing, and, as necessary, media conversion of the works of Rabbi Schulweis and colleagues, in order to amass this reservoir of knowledge and teachings.

(click image to go to the book collection)

The Schulweis Book Collection Library

This Library is housed in dedicated library space at VBS. Rabbi Schulweis has contributed, from his personal collection, over 2,500 books, documents, periodicals, lecture sets, prayer books, Haggadot, and original book manuscripts to initiate the Library. These are publicly accessible in library shelf stacks with sufficient capacity to house approximately 3,500 items. A lending library tracking and administrative system is operated as part of the existing VBS library. Reading, digital transcription, and listening areas are provided within the planned space.

(click image to go to the library)

The On-Line Recording and Document Libraries

Rabbi Schulweis has created a very large and rich body of published and unpublished works and recorded audio sessions, in excess of 1500 documents and tapes. Recordings of programs and lectures, many with other distinguished colleagues, are being converted to digital form for listening and downloading and recording from the Schulweis Institute web pages. Many exciting writings, including speeches, papers, and commentaries, which were presented in hard copy form, are being converted to electronic Word™ document form for on-line reading, or downloading and printing., The Internet and the VBS Library Athena on-line search system will facilitate universal access to all this material from anywhere in the world.

A computer in the Schulweis Library room will provide librarians and system administrators with access from the reading area for searching for any of the Institute Library contents, physical and virtual, and to download digitized material---mp3 audio, video or electronic Word™ or scanned text---directly to appropriate portable storage media which can then be loaded onto readers' personal portable devices for listening at their convenience The readers will be able to use their own, or library owned audio or video players, to playback such information at reading desks.