An archive of faith and religion is now available to find a home on students’ bookshelves.
Hillel at Ohio University is currently selling 75 percent of its library after a long period of collecting and accepting donated books. Any unsold texts will be donated to Alden Library.
“This has not been an easy decision; in fact, I thought about selling this library for years and haven’t done it,” said Rabbi Danielle Leshaw, executive director of Hillel at OU. “But, for the last three to five years, the library has grown into a state of chaos.”
Leshaw added that the final decision to sell the collection was made because of a decreasing amount of space in the library.
“Our space upstairs had become really cluttered,” Leshaw said. “The library wasn’t being used. No one was taking the opportunity to use the books… we wanted to give the books a better home where we know they will be read and used.”
Since 1938, the library had been moved twice. It was first located on University Terrace and then moved to a house that no longer exists on East Green before settling on the second floor of 21 Mill St., Leshaw said.
“We’re overwhelmed with the amount of books we have and we’re grateful for the families that have donated the books,” she said. “However, Hillel has become a depository that has been growing in this location since 1966.”
Louie Rosen, building manager for Hillel and a junior studying political science, said that the library is 400 square feet and about 25 percent of the current collection will be kept by the organization.
“I think it’s good that they’re being sold and they deserved to be read,” Rosen said. “Selling them would give students more space to study.”
Sue Rubin, a 76-year-old Athens native and Hillel community member for 25 years, said that she thought having a book sale was needed.
“If someone else could be reading them…then by all means they should be sold,” she said. “These books are precious.”
Kevin Haworth, a professor of English and Leshaw’s husband, helped with the book sale. Each book is individually sold and the library’s monetary value is estimated at $10,000, Haworth said.
“If (the books) are not used then they no longer are valuable; it’d be a waste,” he said.
The books’ topics range from the Holocaust to prayer books written in Hebrew. Hard covered books are $3 while paper cost $1. Earnings from the sale will go toward investing in partially renovating the library.
“We’re not anticipating making a lot of money from this,” Leshaw said. “That’s not the point of this sale.”
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