Libraries in Israel with English-Language Materials

English-speaking olim are often strong users of libraries in their countries of origin. However, when looking for English-language material in Israel, most overlook their local public library.

There are several reasons why this is so. Compared to libraries in other countries, public libraries in Israel used to be rather unattractive. In addition, until recently, you had to pay a membership fee to be able to take books out.

A lot has changed, though. There are new libraries being built such as the Mediateque in Holon that compare very favorably with public libraries abroad. As of July 2007, books are circulated free of charge in public libraries. The Council of Public Libraries has also recently passed new rules regarding books and librarians for second-language populations.  Public libraries are now required to spend about 25% of their budgets on cultural activities. So, if you want  books and programs in English, you should let the library know about them.

One of the most exciting developments recently is that the Israel Digital Library. You can now download ebooks in a variety of languages, including English, from the Israeli public library system. All you need is a library card, which you can get for free from your local public library.
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Most of the 860 public libraries in Israel have English collections of fiction and non-fiction that make up about 10% of the whole collection. These numbers are even higher in areas with larger concentrations of English speakers, whom Israelis refer to as "Anglo-Saxim." That's fairly impressive when you consider that only 3% of the Israeli population are native speakers of English.

There are major collections of English-language materials in the main libraries such as the National Library,  Jerusalem’s Beit HaAm, Haifa’s Pevsner Library, and Tel Aviv’s Beit Ariela (all marked with yellow pins on the map).

In addition to the public libraries, the English libraries are usually independently operated and are nonprofit organizations.  There are also many small English libraries of 2,500 books or less, often belonging to Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox groups.

More details about the state of English-language materials in Israeli libraries are available in a comprehensive report that AACI conducted in 2012.

Finally, if you are a member of AACI, you can download 50,000 fiction and non-fiction ebooks for all ages from more than 1,000 trade publishers to read on your computer, tablet or smartphone from the Sharon Woodrow Memorial Elibrary.

 
List of Libraries and Collections

There are nine libraries with more than 10,000 English books in their collections. These are marked on the map above with blue pins.  

  1. Geiger English library in Safed
  2. Kibbutz Kfar Hanassi in the North
  3. Efrat's public library
  4. Benjamin Children's library in Beit Shemesh
  5. Raanana's public library
  6. Mediatheque in Holon
  7. Kibbutz Ketura near Eilat
  8. Kiryat Arba
  9. Baka library in Jerusalem (thanks to JELLY - the Jerusalem English-Language Library for Youth)



There are eight libraries with English collections of between 5,000 to 10,000 books. These are marked on the map above with red pins.  

  1. AMIT-AACI library at AACI office in Jerusalem
  2. AACI library in Beersheba
  3. AACI library in Netanya
  4. Koor Judaica library in Netanya (fiction and Judaica books)
  5. Kibbutz Gesher Haziv near Nahariya
  6. Ramat Hasharon public library
  7. Modiin public library
  8. AACI / JELLY teacher's library (offering English teachers class sets of English books, and other programming)