Lectures
Wed. November 30, 2011 3-4 pm JFK Library 7-8 pm Temple Beth Shalom 1322 E. 30th Ave. Spokane, WA
Rita Berman Frischer
Rita Berman Frischer has been a librarian specializing in children's books for many years, primarily in Jewish settings but also doing considerable outreach into the broader book community. During her 20 years heading the large multi-generational collection at Sinai Temple in West Los Angeles, she and her staff served a K-8 school as well as supporting every affiliated program. She reviewed for the L.A. Jewish Journal, Reform Judaism, and other journals and periodicals, wrote chapters for several books on Jewish literature and learning, lectured for Hebrew Union College and the University of Judaism (now American Jewish University), spoke abroad in Australia and Jerusalem on Jewish children's literature, and served as a judge for numerous book awards, including those granted by the Association of Jewish Libraries, the Jewish Book Council and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. A member of the Association of Jewish Libraries, in 2010 Ms. Frischer helped bring the organization's International Conference to the Northwest for the first time.
Since her move to Seattle in 2008, she has written reviews for JTNews in Seattle and continued to serve as a pre-school book judge for the Once Upon A World Children's Book Award, sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance Library. This year, she will fill a similar role, but will move to the panel judging middle school and young adult literature.