Basic HTML Version
SCHIFFMAN/JEWISH INST ITUTE OF RELIGION LIBRARY
1 9 5
search collections in certain areas.” Thereby , it has “extended
its influence to individuals and groups far beyond the Institute
walls and has made significant contributions to the fu rthe rance
and the enrichm en t o f Jewish cultural life in America.”16
The library was seen by many as a Jewish cultural resource
and not as a narrowly defined sectarian institution. It was this
type o f community, based upon Jewish scholarship, which Dr.
Wise encouraged th rough the library o f the JIR .
When the issue was raised as to the role the library would
play du ring the presidency o f Dr. Glueck, the ties o f community
which had been nu r tu red from the inception o f the J IR until
its m erger with HUC were a strong bond that could not easily
be severed. The tenacity with which alumni and loyal followers
o f Dr. Wise insisted on the retention o f the name “Jewish In
stitute o f Religion” was an expression o f this solidarity. Similarly,
the library, which had operated as an independen t un it und e r
Rabbi Kiev, was not about to su rrend e r its autonomy to Cin
cinnati. Thus, until Rabbi Kiev’s dea th it retained much the
same form as it had p rio r to the merger.
V. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Significant changes have taken place since Rabbi Kiev’s time.
Dr. Philip E. Miller, Assistant Librarian to Rabbi Kiev, was ap
pointed Acting Librarian in 1976 after Rabbi Kiev’s sudden
death on November 3, 1975. In 1978 he assumed the post o f
Librarian. Renamed the Klau Library in hono r o f the gift o f
Sadie Klau in 1979, the library moved into a new building at
1 West 4th Street tha t same year and, with additional space
provided in its new quarters, was able to start cataloging in the
Library o f Congress classification scheme. Along with its new
location, a cooperative association was begun with New York
University. T h e collection has grown to keep pace with the rab
binical, cantorial, and educational curricula, and reade r services
have been emphasized. As a result o f the adoption o f the Library
o f Congress classification and compu ter cataloging utilizing a
shared data base, the integration o f all the libraries in the HUC-
J IR system — Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles, and J e r u
salem — has been much expanded . These are ju s t a few o f
16. Weintraub, p. 15.