קונגרס העולמי ה-18 למדעי היהדות

Adolph S. Oko and the Hebrew Union College Library

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The Hebrew Union College Library in Cincinnati is one of the world`s most important libraries for Jewish Studies. The beginning of the library was a modest contribution of 130 books in the first year after the foundation of the college in 1875. The library began to develop and grow significantly under the direction of librarian Dr. Adolf Oko (1833-1944). Oko, a renown scholar and collector of Spinozana, devoted his life to building the HUC library. This lecture will focus on Oko`s contribution to the creation of the Hebrew Union College Library, and the cultural and academic motivations that inspired him to come to Cincinnati in 1906 and invest a quarter century in building the library. As a result of the foundation set by Oko, the Hebrew Union College Library grew to become one of the world`s most important libraries for Jewish Studies, and the second largest after the National Library of Israel.