Over 18 years, PJ Library has distributed close to 1 million Jewish children’s books to young families in Philadelphia. The nonprofit recently celebrated its “chai” year in the region, and with it, many accomplishments.
The PJ Library in Philadelphia is a program of Jewish Learning Venture, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and private donors.
The History
JLV is a “merge of two legacy institutions,” said Elana Rivel, JLV’s CEO.
JLV was originally the Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that provided support for congregational education in the area. The community fixture worked with summer camps and youth educators and supported youth groups.
In the 1830s, educator and philanthropist Rebecca Gratz launched what is now known as Jewish Outreach Partnership, as a place to provide Jewish youth education.
“This was before synagogue religious schools started; it was community-based,” Rivel said. “There were thousands of kids in the greater Philadelphia area that participated in these Hebrew school programs, and over the years, as synagogues in the 1940s, ’50s, ’60s began to take on that role, fewer kids enrolled, but [JOP was] still a mainstay of the community and a model across the country.”
The organization began working primarily with Jewish families who weren’t affiliated with an institution, continuing their education within JOP’s programs, according to Rivel.
“What JOP started to understand is that if we’re going to find these families, we want to support the parents and the caregivers in their own education, whether that’s helping them connect to institutions or provide stronger education at home beyond what was happening in the classrooms,” Rivel said.
JOP also helped strengthen these institutions to better meet families who might not “automatically” join synagogues, engaging in educational and systemic change.
“At the same time, ACAJE was looking at how do we strengthen our educational systems in those congregations, and understood that they had to move beyond just the education bubble in the synagogue and engage other members of the community at the same time,” Rivel said.
In 2008, ACAJE began the work of PJ Library, distributing Jewish storybooks to families with young children. “We had 2,500 kids in that first year that participated,” Rivel said.
Meanwhile, JOP engaged in “public-space Judaism” to bring the Jewish faith into nontraditional organizations. ACAJE and JOP merged after the executive director of the former retired in 2009. In 2011, the organization was renamed to Jewish Learning Venture.
PJ Library As an Access Point
As the agencies united, JLV launched jkidphilly to support the work of PJ Library.
“PJ Library became this access point because we would have all these families [subscribed], and then jkidphilly was [a way to] support these families beyond the books,” Rivel said.
PJ Library is the gateway for a majority of jkidphilly participants: “That’s how we find them,” Rivel said.
“These are families who have taken a step,” she added. “They’ve identified that they want to receive Jewish books in their homes, so they’re open to the idea of, ‘What does it look like beyond receiving a book?’ ‘How do you now do more, either at home or out in the community?’”
Through programming and conversations with community members, jkidphilly connectors learn about young families’ needs.
“We’re able to share that information with our institutions to say, ‘Here’s what we know about [Philadelphia’s Jewish] families.’ We know where they’re living through PJ Library,” Rivel said, adding that the children’s literature nonprofit now sends books to 6,100 children in Philadelphia.
“We get data from registration — Do they identify with an underrepresented community? Are they enrolled in early childhood centers or day schools or synagogues or JCCs? Do they go to Jewish camp?”
Rivel and her team provide that information to JLV’s institutional leaders to better serve families.
Recent data revealed that the largest percentage of PJ Library in Philadelphia subscribers lived in the southern part of the city, in zip code 19146.
“The interesting thing about 19146 is there are very few formal Jewish institutions in the area,” Rivel said.
So JLV launched Jewish programs — titled New Beginnings — in that region to provide the Jewish experiences that had been missing, according to JLV’s senior director of institutional advancement Rhona Gerber.
“We know from our own experience, but also research tells us that when kids are young and parents and caregivers are trying to figure out how to create the foundations for what their lives are going to look like, that’s an opportune time to ensure that they are grounded in Jewish values and Jewish experiences,” Rivel said. “It’s really about strengthening the Jewish community as a whole.”
This organizational partnership also helps PJ Library’s growth: “6,100 is the largest number we’ve had in the 18 years, and we’re continuing to try and grow that number again,” Rivel said.
“Our biggest accomplishment is reaching 22,000-plus children in 18 years,” she added. “It’s such a fabulous program.”
Eighty-three percent of JLV families reported feeling more confident in bringing Judaism into their homes and communities, according to the organization’s 2025 survey. Three-fourths feel more connected to other Jewish families or to Jewish institutions.
“That is incredible and bodes well for the [vibrant, enduring, inclusive Jewish] future that we talk about,” Rivel said.