View the online library catalog here.
History
The PNK Learning Center was established shortly after Temple Sinai was formed in 1968. Today it boasts a collection of over 12,000 titles, making it the largest Jewish library in Atlanta. The Learning Center is a repository for books, newspapers, periodicals, DVDs, CDs, and audio books. Films shown at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival are purchased by the library if available, and may be checked out for home viewing. Any subject which relates to the Jewish experience is eligible for inclusion in the collection.
The library contains an excellent fiction and an especially strong reference collection. Holocaust Studies, books on Modern Israel, and resources for studying classical Jewish texts are also featured. Volumes on art, music, sports, and a large collection of biographies can also be discovered in the library. A Jewish genealogical section enables members to research their family histories. Of special note is the collection relating to Jewish Law endowed by the family of Steven Eichel, a young lawyer at Sinai whose untimely death is memorialized by the ever-expanding Jewish Law Library. The Sinai library is a rich resource for research and enjoyment. The collection is available to all Sinai members and also to persons in the general community who receive special permission from the librarian.
Membership in the Temple Sinai Library Guild at $25 yearly, allows Sinai members to purchase books for the collection and to sponsor regularly scheduled book reviews. Volunteers from the congregation are always welcome to serve on the Library Committee or to assist the librarian with technical services.
A room in the library is devoted to children’s and youth literature. It is the setting for story time for preschool and religious school youngsters and, each year, the library conducts a Reading Program for religious school students. The program is designed to introduce children to the world of Jewish books and to give them a head start in Jewish literacy.
For the more technically minded, the Temple Sinai library maintains a complete online catalog, available on the Temple Sinai website. Wi-Fi connection and three computer stations are available to member families.
Library Guild
Join the Kranz Learning Center Library Guild!
Temple Sinai’s exclusive Library Guild helps to fund the curation of the book & film collections while ensuring our catalogue has the latest contributions to Jewish literature. In addition, funds from the Library Guild membership contributes to new experiential children’s programming that brings Jewish literature off the page and into life. Membership costs $25 and includes:
One year of membership
Access ot exclusive book reviews
Support children’s library programing that will bring Jewish literature off the page
Access ot an exclusive library e-letter with all the newest additions to our collection and events
Recognition in the D'var
Opportunity to dedicate a book in the library in honor of a simcha or in memory of a loved one
To current and past members: The Library Guild has switched to a ONCE A YEAR annual renewal process. All members will renew their membership in December and January each year.
Register Here for Library Guild
Birthday Book Club
We invite you to support the PNK Learning Center by making your child a member of the Birthday Book Club. All you have to do is making an $18 (chai) donation to the library in your child's honor. Your child will be invited to select a book to be placed in our Learning Center. Your child may be the first person to check out the book! Honoring your child's birthday in this manner is a double mitzvah - it encourages the honoree to read, and it also provides the Temple Sinai Kranz Learning Center with a lasting gift that others can enjoy.
Sign up HERE for the Birthday Book Club.
Want more information? Email our librarian at librarian@templesinaiatlanta.org.
