Wondering about the origins of the Jewish Book Festival?

By Iris Shur, JBF Committee Member

Wonder no more! Almost 100 years ago, in 1925, a librarian named Fanny Goldstein initiated a Jewish Book Week at the West End Branch of the Boston Public Library. She displayed a selection of Jewish books at the library and the concept became a hit. In fact, in just two years, many Jewish communities in the United States copied her efforts.

Initially, Jewish Book Week occurred during Shavuot. Later, in 1940, it was moved to just before Hanukkah so people would buy books as holiday gifts. Also, in 1940, the National Committee for Jewish Book Week formed and Fanny Goldstein, the librarian who started the whole thing, was the first chairperson.

The event was so popular that it went from one week of activities to one month. In 1944, the name was changed to the Jewish Book Council (JBC). They were able to get funding from the Jewish Community Centers Association. So, it is no coincidence that our Jewish Book Festival is under the auspices of Jewish Federation of Greater Naples.

The Jewish Book Council went on to promote Jewish books in a variety of ways. In 1950, it started the National Jewish Book Awards, a very prestigious awards program for Jewish authors. The JBC began a Jewish literary journal called “Paper Brigade” and it has a speakers bureau of authors who present their stories. In addition, JBC holds writing seminars for adult and children’s’ authors. There are many other programs the organization supports, all enhancing the field of Jewish Literature.

The program most pertinent to us is called “JBC Network.” This group coordinates all the Jewish authors and Jewish-interest books. More than 270 authors travel all over North America every year, thanks to the JBC Network. The Jewish Book Council handles all the intricacies of signing up the authors, having them make presentations to interested Jewish Book Festival coordinators, keeping the schedules of authors straight (which Jewish Book Festival wants which author to present and when) and a myriad of other details.

The annual selection process of authors starts with a detailed list of rules for author participation: books must have a Jewish author and/or Jewish content; authors must commit to presenting at least three events for no honorarium; and books must be published in English and distributed in the United States. When JBC selects the hundreds of authors for the program, it offers to meet with them and help with their presentations.

A JBC author preview is held every spring and Jewish Book Festivals all over the country send representatives to hear a two-minute pitch by each author. This year, it was held virtually. The JBC sends copies of all the selected books to each registered Jewish Book Festival group across the country. When the batch of books gets to Naples, our stalwart JBF Committee members hitch up their reading glasses and check them out. The preview representatives from the JBF Committee and the “readers” compare notes. Eventually the list of authors the committee wants to invite to Naples gets culled down. This year, we have chosen 17 fascinating authors coming to Naples either in person or virtually.

Now that you know the history and the torturous road taken, I’m sure you want to be there at the end of this journey and attend all of the wonderful author presentations the JBF Committee has selected for you.