Jewish Public Library (Montreal)

The Jewish Public Library or JPL (, ) is a public library in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, founded in 1914. The library contains the largest circulating collection of Judaica in North America. The JPL has close to 4000 members, and receives 700 to 800 visitors weekly. A constituent agency of Federation CJA, the Jewish Public Library is independent of the Montreal Public Libraries Network and instead receives its funding from the city's Jewish community, membership fees, donations and endowments.
History.
Founded in 1914, the library's early history is grounded in the Yiddish-speaking immigrants who fled Europe at the turn of the 20th century. The early homes of the JPL were in rented cold water flats on St. Urbain Street and, for 20 years, on the corner of Esplanade Avenue and Mount-Royal. In the early 1970s, the patterns of Jewish migration within the city had made it apparent that the library should move again, to be nearer to other Jewish agencies and organizations. The Segal Centre for Performing Arts, YM-YWHA Jewish community centre, Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, and all Federation CJA offices are now within a campus on the corner of Cote Ste. Catherine Road and Westbury Avenue in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges sector.
Collection.
The Jewish Public Library's collection of over 150,000 items is accessible online, including specialist collections in five languages. The Children’s Library offers programs and activities with more than 30,000 items for children up to 14 years of age. The JPL is a full service lending and research library. 75% of the collection is Judaica, 25% general interest and popular fiction.
The collection itself is oriented towards both academic and popular readerships, the Judaica collection being akin to most university libraries' Judaic collections. Members of Montreal's Orthodox Jews also use the library for religious works. The general collection attempts a diversity of popular and literary fiction, as well as an AV collection of first-run films on VHS and DVD, and audiobooks in Yiddish. The Yiddish Book Center has digitized many of these tapes and made them available on compact disc and free online in a joint project. The JPL's collections are primarily in English, French, Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian, with other languages comprising works in its special non-circulating collections. Special collections include:
Activities.
The Library has an active programme of cultural events and educational workshops throughout the year. During Jewish Book Month, Andrei Codrescu, Cynthia Ozick, and Salmon Rushdie have all spoken at the library. It also stages dramatic readings in Hebrew, Yiddish musical evenings and Russian concerts and walking tours of Jewish Montreal are given throughout the year. First Fruits is an annual literary anthology of student writing from local high school students, and it awards the J. I. Segal Prizes bi-annually to published writers of Jewish content in various languages. Many programmes represent collaborations with other organizations such as the Montreal Holocaust Museum, the Montreal Jewish Museum, and Bloomsday Montreal. The Archives offers exhibitions, tours, workshops and offers much of its content digitally.