[NFBJ] A Small Suggestion

Thu Sep 25 20:24:43 UTC 2025

For lack of a better word, we need JBI "trinkets" to saturate the American Jewish scene.

The trinkets will help people see us and touch us.

Everybody likes to come away from a gathering or dinner with something small for the house, the grandchildren.
	Key chain
	Something that sticks to the fridge
	A bookmark
	A placemat

I am not a marketing expert, but you 
	Don't have to spend tons of money.

Instead, see what other organizations do.

When JBI speaks to staff for the elderly,
	Each staff member 
	Gets a trinket.

When JBI shows up at libraries,
	Each librarian gets a trinket.
When JBI patrons speak at schools and camps, and NJOP, and NFB and ACB gatherings,

	They can come well-laden with trinket.

Funding
	Michael Samet and his family
	Howard Jonas

Like kids running for candy on Simchat Torah,
	Let's hit 5786 running to reach our goal.

Michael Levy
Yad Hachazakah

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBJ <nfbj-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Jill Rothstein via NFBJ
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2025 4:09 PM
To: in Judaism NFB <nfbj at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jill Rothstein <jrothstein at jbilibrary.org>
Subject: Re: [NFBJ] Daveeds email, some warm responses from JBI Library

Shana Tova everyone!

I wanted to take the time to respond to Daveed's important email.
Daveed - thank you for raising these questions and comments. We appreciate your dedication.
Before I try to answer some of your questions, I want to extend an invitation to our next patron council and book selection council, which we host quarterly on zoom.  We value your input so much! The next meeting will be in early January – exact dates will be announced in our monthly e-newsletter and braille and large print mailed postcards. You can also email me at jrothstein at jbilibrary.org<mailto:jrothstein at jbilibrary.org>  - or call me at 212-812-2774- any time to talk to me about your thoughts and suggestions.

Now, to see if I can answer your questions, Daveed.
First, thank you for sharing that you are struggling to find community and feel connected.  I want to say that isolation is a key issue facing many of our community members and we empathize. JBI's librarians are here to help connect you with resources for community connection, so please reach out to us with your particulars if you would like some referrals. We can't solve it, but we can try to help.  Please also reach out with ideas you might have for how to support one another.  We are happy to help share them our or use our resources to help you make them happen.

Secondly, you are not alone in feeling like you are the only one pushing for accessibility in your synagogue., We hear so frequently that the people working on inclusion are the only ones doing so in their synagogue, But we also here that they succeed in making progress - with lots of commitment and perseverance. JBI Library has partnered with other Jewish inclusion organizations to try to combat this phenomenon but working together more. We so far have had 2 convenings and are starting a listserv for Jewish organizations and synagogues to help each other, and we hope to have good news on that front soon.  If anyone has suggestions on this front, and ideas for what you would like to see, we would love to have you a part of the conversation.  Please reach out to me and I can connect you.

Third, I am pleased to be able to tell you that we do already have good working partnerships with both CSB Cares and with the Israeli library, and are currently expanding both (we hope to start advertising this more so folks know about it!). We are able to get and distribute some materials with the Israeli library and we are now getting some CSB Cares titles to provide on cartridge. (big thanks to Lynne for help with that). We want to keep expanding so if anyone reading this has ties and other ideas, please reach out. We are also on track to join the Accessible Book Consortium! Which will connect us with many, many international libraries for the blind and print disabled around the world, taking advantage of the Marrakesh Treaty to allow us to exchange digital accessible titles in every language with them! We are working towards this by adding needed metadata in our catalog but hope to move forward in a few months.

Fourth, outreach is one of our most important goals and missions.   You are right that so many places that should know about us and use our services, don’t (or at least not yet!)  We have staff working just on outreach and are also starting a big new outreach push in the next month to JCCs, Senior Residences, Nursing Homes, and Synagogues. Library and outreach staff will be reaching out but we are also starting a volunteer ambassador program wherein we will train volunteers in what to say in emails and phone calls to spread the word about our free services. The ambassador program is open to patrons and non-patrons alike, so if you are interested in being a part of it, please let me know. It will be a great way to help the community and become a JBI Volunteer. We’re looking for volunteers in different geographic locations who like talking to people and can speak passionately about what JBI does.

In terms of materials, we currently carry 255 titles in Hebrew braille and 87 in Hebrew audio. I hear you and we will work on adding more to our collection. I would be happy to help you find listings of what we have in commentary and on the Talmud! And also we can expect to get more from the ABC partnership.

Daveed – let's touch base offline about the two committees.   Can you reach out to me and let me know a good time to talk so that I can reach you by phone?  For other folks - please let us know you would like to volunteer, help lead, or just share ideas.   JBI is stronger when you are partnering with us!
Warmly,
Jill

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