Out of the Archives: B’nai B’rith Berlin Library
by Kevin Schlottmann, Levy Processing Archivist, Center for Jewish History

Today, most libraries have automated circulation systems. The Center’s catalog serves this function for itself and its five partner institutions. Such systems provide great benefits to both patrons (such as searching and renewing from home) and institutions (such as ease of tracking use). Before computers, however, libraries had to manage their collections using the technology that was available.

The Leo Baeck Institute’s Grossloge fuer Deutschland [B’nai B’rith Germany] Collection (AR 4087) contains a notebook that has the circulation records from 1907 to 1938 for the shared library of the B’nai B’rith lodges of Berlin. Each library book was given a number. When a member checked out a book, the number, member name, and dates “out” and “in” were logged. Unfortunately, the list of books for the Berlin library is not found in this collection.

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Above image: Circulation notebook of the shared library of the B’nai B’rith lodges of Berlin. c/o Leo Baeck Institute.