By Shalva Ben David
What do the following kids’ books have in common: Wonder by R. J. Palacio, House of Hades by Rick Riordan, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Divergent by Veronica Roth and The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate? They’ve all appeared on the New York Times bestseller list in recent weeks, and The Benjamin Children’s Library (BCL) has copies of them all.
In fact, anyone who is pining for the “bestseller shelves” from their neighborhood libraries in the “old country” should visit BCL and browse through its English racks. As Head Librarian, Naomi Dubitsky notes, “We take pride in the fact that we have one of the most–if not the most–current English language selections in the entire State of Israel. You don’t have to wait for your next trip abroad to read the latest bestsellers. You can find them right here at the BCL.” The same goes for Hebrew bestsellers, listed by leading bookstores Steimatsky and Tzomet Sefarim.
Dubitsky added that the BCL staff is constantly on the lookout for new books, to keep their bookshelves current for the library’s 2,000+ members. “We routinely purchase the top five Hebrew books that appear on Steimatsky bestseller lists. And for English books, we order from Amazon.com, and can usually find a library fan who is travelling and can bring them to us from the USA.”
While the BCL makes sure to keep up with the bestsellers, most books entering the library are still from donations. On the limited budget that exists, the library could not otherwise manage.
Dubitsky expects that the recent enactment of the Hok Sfarim, which prevents the major chains from holding “3 for 100” sales, will drive avid readers to the BCL. “Now, more than ever, it makes good financial sense to join the library and keep up with the latest books that everyone is talking about.