Collections

The Temple Beth El library holds more than 4,000 books, covering topics ranging from traditional Judaic texts to modern commentaries, guides to observance and practice, liturgy, cookbooks, Jewish history, biography, genealogy, and contributions to philosophy, music, theater, art and literature, plus a good selection of fiction by Jewish writers from around the world.  

There are also separate Children's, Young Adult, and Parenting collections covering a wide assortment of topics.  

The books in the collection circulate (with the exception of items marked Reference).  TBE members will receive library cards after enrolling in the lending system.  Items circulate for 30 days and may be be renewed.  Members are responsible for returning items on time and in good condition. 

The books are organized according to Weine classification, an adaption of the Dewey Decimal scheme used by Jewish libraries.  The shelf numbering – 000 through 999 – will be familar to public library users.  There is guide to the subject locations and shelf labels can help with browsing the collection.

The library collection is cataloged and available for searching online at https://libib.com/u/tbeaptos.  The catalog system offers features that can help find works you know and discover those you don't.  It provides shelf numbers indicating precise location of books. A guide to the catalog explains these and other features.