The LIS Program kicked off its revitalized LIS Research Forum with Dr. Andrew Wertheimer’s presentation “Yiddish Bookstores & Cultural Survival in North America.” Jewish bookstores served as third spaces for the community, and mirrored the theological and philosophical divides of the Jewish Community. The presentation searches for shards of the bookstores’ existence in various American and Canadian cities and shares how they struggled with the crisis faced by most immigrant bookstores in America. Dr. Wertheimer concludes by highlighting a key difference between libraries and bookstores regarding cultural survival. The lecture took place on Feb. 21st.
