The Leo and Irene Kaplowitz Memorial Library
Who we are?
A kindergarten class is sitting in the story area listening intently to a book being read to them by the librarian. Students on every grade level are doing research for class assignments from print resources or the internet. Other students are sitting in small study groups reviewing for classes and tests. Teachers of both general and Judaic studies are preparing classes or looking up source material.
At any time these are the scenes that take place in The Kaplowitz Memorial library of JKHA/RKYHS. With a growing collection of some 26,000 volumes, video tapes and CD ROMs, the library/ media center is the study and research hub for the entire campus. It is the mission of the library to build and maintain a collection of books, periodicals, audio visual materials and on-line data bases to support, enrich and enhance the curriculum taught in all grades Pre K through 12. The library contains general fiction and non-fiction collections, Judaica and seforim, a Hebrew language collection, and a pedagogic collection for faculty and staff use. The library also maintains a collection of AV hardware for use by teachers in their classrooms.
How are we organized?
Though the library is physically partitioned the collection is unified. On the JKHA side of the library are the EASY READING (fiction and non-fiction), REFERENCE, BIOGRAPHY and FICTON collections and the A/V COLLECTION. On the RKYHS side are the NON-FICTION, HEBREW LANGUAGE and PEDAGOGIC collections.
Access to the library collection is through our automated card catalog available on all computer workstations. Our library is organized by Dewey classification, including Judaica and seforim. Reference books all have the prefix REF. These books do not circulate! Fiction books are identified by FIC and the first three letters of the author’s name. Biographies are marked 92 and the first three letters of the subject’s name. Easy reading books all have an E prefix. Fiction books then have the first three letters of the author’s name and non-fiction a Dewey classification number. Non-fiction books are classified by Dewey classification numbers. Books in Hebrew have a prefix HEB, pedagogic books the prefix PED.
What services do we offer?
Grades Pre-K through 5 are scheduled for regular library visits. All other classes are invited to schedule appointments with the librarians to visit the library when it is book report time, or when research needs to be done.
Both librarians can respond to general and Judaica reference questions. We can direct students to the shelves to choose books for book reports or pre-select books for your students to choose from. We will prepare pathfinders to direct students engaged in research as well as pulling collections from the shelf to make library time more efficient. Print resource research can be integrated in the library with database and internet research on the 15 computer workstations available to all faculty and students. The librarians will provide guidance and instruction in the proper and effective use of these resources.
Borrowing books is easy!
Our circulation system is fully automated. Books circulate for two weeks and can be renewed even without the book in hand. REFERNCE books do not circulate! A/V materials and hardware circulate for one day and must be returned by the end of the school day.
The computer desktop includes the following databases and internet sites:
Card Catalog-the complete catalog of all the resources in the library.
Internet Explorer-the gateway to the internet.
JerseyCat- a union catalog of New Jersey libraries for interlibrary loan
Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint- word processing, for preparing reports, exams etc.
Floppy Drive A, and CD-ROM Drives-reads your disks in Microsoft Word, and allows editing printing and saving.
Encyclopedia Judaica CD-ROM version.
World Book, Britannica Online, Grolier’s Encyclopedia, World Book Medical Encyclopedia, McGraw Hill encyclopedia of Science and Technology
Bar Ilan Responsa Project- a comprehensive database for Torah res
EBSCO Host-a periodical search engine on a wide range of topics, provides full-text of many articles for browsing and printing.
SIRS Discoverer, Researcher, and Renaissance- a periodical search engine, Discoverer for younger users and Researcher for older users, Renaissance specializes in fine arts.
Masterplots
Litfinder-research poetry, short stories, and essay literature
Contemporary authors-biographical information and criticism
How to do Research
Israel Highway—news of Israel especially for high school students
Country watch-geopolitical intelligence
Facts on File—a reference data base center in the following categories: science, history, curriculum resources, geography, literature, health, and careers.
The library subscribes to more than sixty periodicals and newspapers including:
| The New York Times |
Cable in the Classroom |
| The Wall Street Journal |
Cobblestone |
| USA Today |
Faces |
| The Jewish News |
American History |
| The Jewish Press |
Science News |
| The Jewish Week |
Sha’ar Lamatchil |
| The International Jerusalem Post |
Midei Chodesh B’chodsho |
| Newsweek |
Eretz |
| US News & World Report |
Jerusalem Report |
| Educational Leadership |
Imagine |
| Phi Delta Kappan |
Sports Illustrated |
| Education Week |
The Sporting News |
| Instructor |
Commentary |
| Mailbox-Preschool, Kindergarten, Intermediate, Elementary |
Zoobooks |
How do we build the collection?
Ideally, the collection is built based on input from the faculty. Towards the end of the school year you will be asked for your input and recommendations for adding to the collection, both specific titles genres, and topics. Without the input from the faculty the librarians will make their own decisions and selections. Requests are accepted at any time during the year, and will be filled as the budget allows. Over the past several years the library has been the beneficiary of a grant from the Avi Chai Foundation enabling us to enhance the collection for grades 9-12.
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