Association of Jewish Libraries Biographical Directory

Abstract

The 1991 AJL Directory is not available because it includes personal information and was supposed to be shared among the association members only at the time. The text of the original Interlocution is provided here in lieu of the full directory.

As the originally designated editor of what was to have been a 25th Anniversary Volume, Herbert C. Zafren conceived of the Association of Jewish Libraries' Biographical Directory as part of the volume because he felt that it would increase the reference value of the work and provide valuable information for writing the actual history of the Association. In 1988, Zafren designed the questionnaire and had the form mailed to the then current membership. As names of former AJL members were submitted, questionnaires were sent to them as well; there was no way to systematically contact all former members. Even after many responses had been received, there was still a sense that members who might wish to be included had not yet been reached. Therefore, in October 1990, Dr. Ralph Simon prepared a second mailing to the membership. This second mailing resulted in the receipt of several hundred additional forms, many of which were updated versions of information submitted from the first mailing. As the completed forms were received, they were edited, and later updated, by Marcia Posner, who sent the data to Laurel Wolfson, who compiled the entries and input the data into a computerized database. The total number of entries in the directory is 429, while the current membership of AJL stands at 1,048; the latter figure includes 74 institutional members. In sum, this Biographical Directory includes current and former AJL members who received and responded to the questionnaire.