Progressive Jewish Libraries and Archives in the UK: An Overview

As it was for ABTAPL, 1956 was a very significant year for Progressive Judaism, because Leo Baeck College opened then, training Liberal, Reform and Masorti Rabbis, who now serve most of the Progressive congregations in the UK and much of Europe. (Leo Baeck College, n.d.) Their theological library and scholar-librarians have been hugely important for and greatly valued by staff and students. ABTAPL has benefited the current librarian and likewise it has helped me find a professional community in our speciality. As Archivist of Liberal Judaism, I advised around forty congregations, and oversaw the creation and maintenance of archives for our Headquarters. The Movement for Reform Judaism has its own Headquarters and another forty communities. Some congregations also have their own libraries and archives. This article is an outline of some of the Progressive Jewish libraries and archives large and small, which have served both lay people and clergy since 1956. It concludes with an eye to the future, as Reform and Liberal movements are in the process of forming a new entity, the Movement for Progressive Judaism. This will bring us in line with the rest of the world, each country having one rather than three Progressive Movements. Theologically and otherwise, the Movements in the UK have converged, with implications for future information and archive services, which I explore.