This issue of the magazine includes:

• Jewish Libraries: Community Library in the Mirror of Statistics

There are very many different opinions on the perspectives, essence and nature of Jewish community life in the former Soviet Union in general and community libraries in particular. In such a situation it seems very important to have a look at a Jewish community library from a relatively independent point of view—the viewpoint of dry statistics. That is why the author of the article carried out an investigation in the library of the Jewish Community Center of St. Petersburg, which included the following phases: analyzing the readers’ record cards, studying the readers’ demands for different kinds of literature and a questionnaire survey of the library’s visitors. The collected data shows that an effective, attractive Jewish library has been established in St. Petersburg capable of meeting the needs of different age, social and professional groups. The results of this research will give guidelines for the future development of the library.

• Review: Two Anthologies are Not Too Many...

Till the second half of the ‘90s, Russian-language readers had very limited opportunities to learn about Israeli literature. Now the situation has radically changed, which is connected with the development of the system of Jewish education in the former Soviet Union, both in secondary and in higher education. One example of this is two anthologies of Hebrew literature in Russian translations that were published approximately at the same time, one in Moscow, the other one in St. Petersburg. The compilers of Moscow anthology include in their book excerpts from the most important works of major Hebrew writers of the 19th–20th centuries, which are presented in chronological order. The St. Petersburg compilers use thematic principle and offer only complete texts—poems, short stories, essays. The reviewer mentions that fewer than 10% of the texts are included in both anthologies and concludes that the readers will profit from two different, but complementary concepts.

• Looking through Russian Literary Magazines: Novels and Articles of Jewish Interest

• Jewish Calendar of Significant Dates: March–April 2000

• Bibliography: 36 New Books