14 minute read
Little-known stories behind 50 million books
Zero to 50M
Seventeen years ago, there were few options for Jewish children’s books. PJ Library changed that by providing stories and delivering a milestone 50 million books worldwide to date.
BY REBECCA NORDQUIST
MANAGING EDITOR Rosalind Torrey, an original PJ Library parent in the United States, admits that she had zero Jewish children’s books on her bookshelf in the early 2000s.
A Jewishly engaged family, they had some
Jewish music in the home, but books? “I really don’t remember any,” she said.
Torrey wasn’t alone. That’s exactly why
Harold Grinspoon founded PJ Library in 2005 — to bring Jewish stories into homes everywhere. And since that first book, Before You Were Born, was sent to about
PJ Publishing
In March, PJ Publishing, PJ Library’s in-house imprint since 2014, released the middle- 1st grade book Detour Ahead about a neurodiverse girl who befriends a Salvadoran American boy. It’s PJ Publishing’s first book published for PJ Our Way (children ages 9–12), another signal that the imprint is quickly becoming a destination for accomplished authors and illustrators.
Digital Content
248,182
downloads
All-Access Community
319 US zip codes with only ONE subscriber
What happens when a family lives outside of a PJ Library–supported community in the US
and Canada? Funded by the PJ Library Alliance, a collective of donors that supports PJ Library’s growth, the All-Access Community reaches families — and potential subscribers — who live outside of supported zip codes and connects them to each other and Jewish life. In fact, its subscriber base in the US alone (17,364) has surpassed Los Angeles (11,404) to become the second largest community. (New York is No. 1 with 36,816 subscribers.)
PJ Library is about more than books in hand. The digital content team is busy creating audiobooks, including Detour Ahead, and podcasts too. In fact, the podcasts Beyond the Bookcase, Afternoons with Mimi, and Have I Got a Story for You! have been downloaded more than 248,000 times total. Go to pjourway.org/audiobooks and pjlibrary.org/podcast to listen.
Distribution
Imagine 226,507 books. Now imagine the logistics behind delivering those books in one month (in this case, May) all around the US and Canada. Every month, it takes an average of five tractor trailers to haul that month’s books to the post office. Want another blowyour-mind fact? The main warehouse receives up to 25 deliveries of books from tractor trailers monthly for future mailings.
140 families in the US, PJ Library has delivered 50 million books globally and shared more than 1,100 stories that reflect the Jewish experience from many perspectives. Fun fact: that includes 16 different versions of the story of Noah’s Ark.
The books that arrived on Torrey’s doorstep in Massachusetts “transformed what was in our home,” she said. “PJ Library was very much part of the rhythm of our bedtime routine. For children, there’s a sense of comfort when you feel represented and the morals you’re being raised with are represented in literature too.”
ROSALIND TORREY
Almost two decades later, Bagels from Benny, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, and Chicken Man, among other “keepers,” as Torrey calls them, still sit on her bookshelf, and there are more stored away. “These are books that I’m saving for the next generation,” she said.
To celebrate the milestone of 50 million books, here’s a look at some little-known stories about the inner workings of PJ Library and the impact it’s made along the way in the lives — and bookshelves — of families like Torrey and her three children.
Keren Grinspoon Israel
Keren Grinspoon Israel, aka the Grinspoon Foundation Israel, has provided 23.5 million books — or nearly half of all PJ Library books — to more than 3.1 million children in schools since 2011 through its literacy program Sifriyat Pijama, which is Hebrew for PJ Library.
Percentage of total PJ Library books distributed by Sifriyat Pijama
זָר תיִרוֹא ר ַ ע ַ יּ ַ בּ ת ָ בּ ַ שׁ ת ַ ל ָ בּ ַ קרֶבּוֹק רַחַשׁ :םיִרוּיִּא
זָר תיִרוֹא רַעַיַּבּ תָבַּשׁ תַלָבַּק
47%
Community Engagement
?םינטנטקל המ'גיפ תיירפס יהמ .ץראה יבחרב םוי תונועמב תלעופה תיצרא תינכות איה םינטנטקל המ'גיפ תיירפס םייתוכיא םירפס הנומש םהיתוחפשמ ינבלו םידלי יפלא תורשעל הקינעמ תינכותה ולשמ קתוע טועפ לכל קנעומ ןועמב תיתייווח תוליעפו האירק רחאל .הנשב ,םירוהה םע םידליה לש תופתושמ תויוליעפל תועצה רפס לכב .החפשמה תיירפסל םינטנטקל המ'גיפ תיירפס .וב םינומטה םיכרעה לש הנבהה תקמעהל תודעוימה.תילארשי־תידוהי תוברת לאו רפסה םלוע לא רעש םיריעצה םידליה ינפב תחתופ הקינעמה ,המ'גיפ תיירפס ,ךשמה תינכות שי םינטנטקל המ'גיפ תיירפס תינכותלתינכותה לע תוססובמ תוינכותה .'ב-'א תותיכ ידימלתלו םינגה ידליל םירפס .ןופסנירג דלורה ןרק ידי לע תירבה תוצראב הדסונש ,PJ Library® .www.splk.org.il :ונלש טנרטניאה רתאב ורקב ףסונ עדימל רפסה לע דוע www.kinbooks.co.il
What’s a super benefit of PJ Library? Community — both virtual and in person.
Nearly 200 local communities organize countless events each year to bring people together, and the Get Together initiative offers families guidance and financial incentives to host Jewish experiences themselves. Since 2016, more than 21,000 families have taken part in about 7,000 Get Together gatherings.
Global Reach
Number of families in Tasmania since program’s inception 12
10
8
6
4
2
0
December 2017 December 2018 December 2019 December 2020 December 2021
Quick geography quiz: Where’s Tasmania? (Honor system here.) Tasmania is an Australian island state south of the main island with about half a million people — and a handful of PJ Library families. The International Fund helps support programs like these and delivers Jewish stories into unexpected places — because every family matters.
Donor Support
$93.57
How has PJ Library managed to accomplish all of this — and much more — in 17 years? The support of its donors, of course! In 2021, 8,102 people of all ages and backgrounds helped PJ Library raise more than $1 million toward its $40 million operating budget with an average gift of $93.57. These donations and other generous gifts help advance PJ Library’s mission of free stories and programming to all, proving that every dollar makes a difference.
Inside PJ Library’s Family Holiday Guides
It takes many hands to build 80-page guides. We talk to contributor Lisa Rachlin about her role in creating content for Jewish holidays year-round.
BY PJ LIBRARY STAFF
More than four years ago, PJ Library began creating dynamic guidebooks intended to help families more easily and meaningfully celebrate Jewish holidays. The team creating these guides includes PJ Library staff, experts, and educators, but an invaluable perspective comes from contributors like Lisa
Rachlin. Rachlin is a Boston-area attorney and
PJ Library mom raising three Jewish children, although she was not raised Jewish herself.
PROOF spoke with Rachlin about joining the family holiday guide creation team and her unique contributions. PJ Library: How did you discover PJ Library? Lisa Rachlin: I made the decision to become Jewish in my mid-20s after meeting my nowhusband. Shortly after having our first child, I heard rumors about an organization giving away free books to Jewish families. I initially assumed there was a catch, but I signed up for the program anyway and was pleasantly surprised when books started arriving every month. As new parents, we didn’t have a library of children’s books at home, let alone Jewish children’s books. As we explored how we wanted to “do Jewish” as a growing family, PJ Library became an important part of our journey.
PJ Library: How did you come to help create PJ Library’s family holiday guides? LR: A friend of mine recruited me to join the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s Next Generation Advisory Board [which is comprised of young professionals who provide feedback to the senior leadership team on strategy and project ideas], hoping my perspective could enhance the group. The Next Gen team had already spearheaded the creation of PJ Library’s Passover Haggadah for families with younger children. Based on the strongly positive feedback the Haggadah received, PJ Library decided to pilot a family guide for the High Holidays. My immediate response was to volunteer to help with content creation. I loved the Haggadah’s playful imagery and its balance between accessibility and substance. My hope was to bring those same qualities to guides that would assist families in navigating other Jewish holidays.
Holiday guides content creator Lisa Rachlin shares her labor of love with one of her three children.
COURTESY PHOTO
PJ Library: Why are Jewish holiday guides important? LR: Holidays are a special and important part of Jewish practice. However, I often felt it was a struggle to create a meaningful holiday experience while juggling naps and meals and activities for kids of different ages. I felt strongly that parents needed accessible, child-friendly resources that also incorporated meaningful content for adults. Of course, there are lots of valuable online resources for the Jewish holidays, including ones on the PJ Library website. But for busy parents stretched thin, it is helpful to have a print resource with curated content that you can pull off the shelf and use to jump right into a guided family experience.
PJ Library: What holidays did you focus on first? LR: The project started in early 2020 with a guide for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and it quickly took on more urgency as COVID hit. We expedited timelines and adjusted content as it became clear that many families would celebrate at home. In 2021, we expanded the guide to include Sukkot and Simchat Torah. Not as many families may celebrate these holidays, but they offer joyful kid-friendly experiences, and we wanted the guide to serve as a gateway for expanding practice. For example, if you are a family who typically goes to services on the High Holidays but aren’t sure how to celebrate Sukkot, we wanted to provide some ideas.
PJ Library: Are there plans to expand? LR: At the end of last year, we began testing a family guide to the winter Jewish holidays (though we’re aware that for families in the Southern Hemisphere the seasons are reversed). Our hope is that families who celebrate Hanukkah will see the guide as an opportunity to explore Tu B’Shevat and Purim as well as the Ethiopian Jewish holiday of Sigd, which is not well-known outside of Israel. We are already looking toward opportunities to explore the holidays between Passover and the start of Rosh Hashanah.
PJ Library: What challenges are you encountering in the creative process? LR: Many Jewish holidays have very mature themes: Yom Kippur is a day of atonement, and Purim deals with threats of annihilation. We chose to emphasize the key themes of each holiday, including how the ancient roots of
In August, PJ Library families will receive the High Holidays guide A Time to Grow in their mailboxes. Each section presents tips on preparing for the holidays and ideas for celebrating as a family.
holidays connect to our contemporary lives. For example, the High Holidays guide [now called A Time to Grow] features a reflection on how the holidays’ origins in the autumnal harvest season in the land of Israel echo the parental experience of raising children. Our amazing illustrator Sophia Vincent Guy and designer Zoe Pappenheimer have brought the same cast of illustrated characters from the Haggadah through all the subsequent guides. Readers see the same kids experiencing the joy and introspection of the Jewish holiday cycle with their families.
PJ Library: How has working on the family holiday guides impacted you? LR: It has been an amazing growth opportunity. Nothing in my background (as a musician turned lawyer) prepared me for this type of project — other than being a busy parent! In September 2021, I also joined the board of trustees of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. I’ve really enjoyed exploring the Foundation’s larger mission and how its various programs, including PJ Library, support the Jewish community. My personal goal is to help promote meaningful experiences for parents who are interested in raising their children as Jews, regardless of their family structure, background, or observance level. If the holiday guides can serve as a useful tool to help parents fulfill their own goals for Jewish practice with their children, that’s a success.
PJ Library Goes to Space
PJ Library books have shown up in some unexpected places — a hut on the Appalachian Trail and islands in the Caribbean, to name a few — but a stay on the International Space Station tops the list.
BY REBECCA NORDQUIST
MANAGING EDITOR
Mission specialist Eytan Stibbe floats effortlessly into view on the screen. A blue children’s book spins in front of him. Behind him are cords plugged into every kind of device and outlet, and two yellowish lights illuminate the techy-looking area. Dressed in a navy polo and khakis, he’s completely upside down by the time he reaches his destination. Once upright, he introduces himself with a wave and says in
Hebrew, “In just a moment, we’re going to read a book I really like called A Beautiful World.”
A few days earlier on April 8, Stibbe boarded the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for a 20-hour-plus flight to the International Space
Station, some 250 miles above Earth. This made Stibbe the second Israeli to venture into space, and he took A Beautiful World with him, making it the first PJ Library book in space.
Stibbe — an Air Force fighter pilot turned businessman and philanthropist — and three other Axiom Mission 1 crew members were part of an inaugural all-private mission to the International Space Station. Their collective goal? Advance science, technology, art, and education through experiments and outreach. For Stibbe, reading to the children of Israel in both Hebrew and Arabic was a part of that.
The idea for a storytime started with the Ramon Foundation, a foundation to which Stibbe has a personal connection. It was founded after Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon — his friend and former Air Force commander — died when the space shuttle Columbia broke apart just before landing in 2003. In part, the organization works to inspire a new generation of young Israelis through advanced programs in the fields of science, aviation, and space, including helping to send Stibbe to space.
As a young boy, Eytan Stibbe dreamed of going to space. He realized that dream in April — and took a PJ Library book with him to the International Space Station.
SCREENSHOT COURTESY OF THE RAMON FOUNDATION
When it needed a book for storytime, organizers called Keren Grinspoon Israel, which runs the classroom-based literacy programs Sifriyat Pijama (Hebrew for PJ Library) and Maktabat al-Fanoos (Arabic for Lantern Library).
And A Beautiful World was an obvious choice for the event. Written by Yael Gover, illustrated by Paul Kor, and published by Kinneret Publishing, it tells the story of creation from Genesis, and the bright illustrations show Earth from an aerial perspective. It also helped that Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking children in Israel were already familiar with the book. In the 2018–2019 school year, KGI distributed A Beautiful World to almost 200,000 children in partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Education, and leading up to the storytime, there were videos, games, and other activities available to children.
“Storytime in space was especially meaningful to us because so many children across Israel could watch an astronaut reading a book from space and say, ‘That’s my book!’” said Winnie Sandler Grinspoon, president of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, PJ Library’s parent organization. “We are excited that so many children got to share that proud Israeli moment in history more deeply with one of our books.”
Three of those children belonged to Sara Chertoff. On April 17, they headed to a friend’s house in Jerusalem for a viewing party. The children, six in total, plopped on the couch and watched the prerecorded storytime on the projector screen. “They were so excited,” she said. “They couldn’t stop giggling, but once he started speaking, they were silent.”
For Chertoff, the gravity of the event went far beyond its unique nature. Her children, especially her 8-year-old son who is fascinated with space, didn’t realize there were other Israeli astronauts besides Ramon. “To say that is an Israeli up in the International Space Station representing us and speaking Hebrew was really special,” said Chertoff, mother to 4-year-old twins as well. “To say, ‘Yeah, you guys could do this too,’ and to see the light in their eyes.”
That light is exactly what Andrea Arbel, the executive director of Keren Grinspoon Israel, hoped this storytime would give children. She also hopes that reading PJ Library books — at home or in space — will continue to inspire children to dream. “If you have that love of getting lost in a good story,” she said, “that’s going to help ensure that you’re going to have that next generation of dreamers, visionaries, and educators.”
11.42" 8.27"
6.5"
9.5"
For A Beautiful World to fit into Eytan Stibbe’s
luggage and meet NASA specifications, the book size was reduced by 20% to save on weight.
240x
During Stibbe’s 15-day stay on the
International Space Station, he traveled around Earth approximately 240 times — or every 90 minutes — flying about 6.3 million miles in total.
Stibbe brought several meaningful
items with him to space, including pages of the late Ilan Ramon’s journal that survived the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. In fact, he continued Ramon’s work of studying thunderstorms from space.
$55 Million
SPACE The estimated ticket price for a private trip to the International
Space Station? $55 million.
