Library
Our Library is the largest circulating Jewish library in the East Bay, with over 7,000 individual items of all types, including:
- Books for all ages
- Video tapes & DVDs
- Audio Cassettes
- CDs
Mission Statement
The Library at Temple Isaiah supports the ongoing pursuit of Jewish learning for all members of our community and the surrounding Jewish community in a welcoming atmosphere with a broad range of Judaic books, media and educational materials.
Library Hours and Information
Our professional librarian, on hand during hours of opening, will be happy to assist you. Gan Ilan children are invited to regular pre-school storytimes with the librarian; and Religious School teachers may schedule storytime with the librarian for Primary School age children. Volunteers may open the Library at additional times for your convenience.
Fall/Winter Hours begin Oct. 2nd, 2007:
- Sun - 8:45 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- Tue - 1:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
- Wed - 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.
- Thu - 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
If you plan to come especially to visit the Library, please telephone to verify hours: 925-283-8575, ext. 322. Voicemail is available.
Another year of great reads and good discussions is in store for returning and new book group members. For the first meeting on Sept. 25, 2008, at 10:30 AM in the Adult Lounge (meetings take place in the Adult Lounge, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. unless otherwise noted), Rabbi Shanks will lead the group in discussion of Walter Isaacson’s prizewinning biography Einstein, His Life and Universe. This is a big book in every sense, so get reading early. Also on the agenda for a future date is a field trip to the Contra Costa Jewish Book & Arts Festival. Find synopses of every title for the year below:
September 25, 2008
Einstein, His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson (Non-fiction)
By the author of the acclaimed bestseller Benjamin Franklin, this is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available. How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson’s biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom. Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk—a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn’t get a teaching job or a doctorate—became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals. These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age.