Illustration by Katherine Messenger, cropped
One hundred years ago, the head librarian of the Boston Public Library’s West End Branch — a young Russian immigrant named Fanny Goldstein — founded Jewish Book Week. In time, Jewish Book Week became Jewish Book Month, organized by Jewish Book Council. The 2026 issue of Paper Brigade pays tribute to the woman behind JBC with this beautifully illustrated map of Jewish libraries around the world.
Know someone who would love this map? This Hanukkah, give the gift of Paper Brigade!
Illustration by Katherine Messenger. Click here to view the larger image.
Katherine Messenger is an illustrator and graphic designer living with her husband and two young boys in Blue Hill, Maine. She recently launched a line of illustrated goods under the brand Independent Puppy. Fun fact: she designed the original issue of Paper Brigade.
Becca Kantor is the editorial director of Jewish Book Council and its annual print literary journal, Paper Brigade. She received a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. Becca was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to spend a year in Estonia writing and studying the country’s Jewish history. She lives in Brooklyn.
Rebecca Levitan is a public librarian at the Pikesville branch of Baltimore County Public Library in Baltimore, MD where she is the branch Children’s Engagement Coordinator, and currently serves as AJL’s Vice President of Membership and coeditor of Children’s and Young Adult reviews for AJL News and Reviews, among other AJL activities.
Hannah Srour-Zackon is the archivist and museum director at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal, Quebec. She currently serves as AJL’s Vice President of Development, and on the AJL Fiction Award committee and the Education committee, among other AJL activities.
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