After 30 years of devotion to the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia (LJLA), its Director, Leonie Fleiszig, has announced her resignation.

Leonie Fleiszig was instrumental in the establishment of the LJLA library. Reminiscing about the early days, Leonie said:

“Almost 30 years ago, together with Ros Collins, I started with a humble collection donated by the community which included some very rare books. Being forward-thinkers, we got our very first computer; it occupied the entire room.”

Back then, the library was located in a small facility on St Kilda Rd.  It wasn’t easy to keep the library going during the recession years in the early 90s but thanks to Leonie’s enthusiasm and the patronage of Zionism Victoria the library moved to the Beth Weizmann Community Centre on Hawthorn Rd in 1993 and continued to grow.

Today, the LJLA is a national library and a modern hub of diverse Jewish culture, which includes state-of-the-art computer software and cataloguing in English, Hebrew, Russian and Yiddish. More than 50,000 books are available on the library’s shelves, and hundreds of audio-visual documentaries are included in the collection.

Zionism Victoria’s President, Sharene Hambur, said:

“Thanks to Leonie Fleiszig’s commitment, over the years, the LJLA library has evolved to become a vibrant hub offering exciting events, programs and services connecting our community. We will miss Leonie, of course, but we are happy for her to pursue new interests and passions in life she deserves.”

Executive Director of Zionism Victoria, Jane Rapke added, “We thank Leonie for excellence in her position and hope to see her at the library events as a volunteer and friend for many more years!”

Leonie Fleiszig will continue in her role until the end of the year. Lauren Joffe, an experienced LJLA librarian, will become Leonie’s successor.