Nathan Cohen is Associate Professor and director of the Center for Yiddish Studies at Bar Ilan University, Israel, and associated editor of Yad Vashem Studies. His research focuses on East European Jewish cultural history in the 19th and 20th centuries, Yiddish book history and history of reading, and modern Yiddish literature. He is the author of Books, Writers and Newspapers: The Jewish Cultural Center in Warsaw, 1918-1942 (Magnes Press, 2003), which was published in Hebrew and translated into Polish.

• List of IllustrationsPrefaceIntroductionThe Reader, the Book, and the LibraryReading and Readers in the Russian EmpireReading and Readers in Congress PolandReading and Readers in the Changing Jewish SurroundingsThe Library as a Literary Agent in Russia and PolandThe Library as a Cultural Agent in the Jewish SurroundingsDeveloping ChangesFrom “Zhargon” to YiddishRising Numbers and Changing ContentChapter 1. Changing Times, New Activities, Fresh ContentLooking to the MassesHistorical-Demographic and Linguistic BackgroundFirst Steps Towards a Different Reading ExperienceConservative Reactions to Contemporary Cultural ChangesLet the Masses Read in Their Language!A One-Man Enterprise: Avrom KotikThe Book as TeacherPopular Science and Public HealthForeign Language InstructionProfessional Guidance and Ways to Get Rich QuickChapter 2. The Fleeting and the Long-lasting: Newspapers and BooksNewspapers and ReadersThe Daily PressPolitical NewspapersPublishing and PublishersWarsaw: Printers, Publishers, and Booksellers until 1900Y. L. Peretz as a PublisherSocialist PublishingModern Commercial Publishing (after 1900)Series – BiblioteknImpressions of WarsawVilna: Lineage and PrestigeKiev: A Young and Vibrant CenterOdessa: A Peripheral MetropolisSt. Petersburg: Yiddish in the Capital CityAttempts at CooperationThe Future of Yiddish PublishingChapter 3. New on the Shelf – Crime and Detective StoriesCrime Stories for the MassesImported and Translated Detective StoriesCrime Literature in the Eyes of Contemporary CriticsChapter 4. Discovering a New World―The Reading Experience in Yiddish Life StoriesSources of InspirationThe Encounter with the BookGenre PreferencesLinguistic Preferences and Preferred AuthorsThe Reading Experience and the Choice of YiddishThe Place of Yiddish among Female ReadersConclusionChapter 5. Libraries, Books, and ReadersThe Library as an Educational AgentThe Importance and Necessity of a LibraryMeeting Places for Scholars in Vilna and WarsawOdessa: A Large Library in the Port CityPoltava: A New Southern LibraryKiev: Yiddish on the RiseMinsk: The Transformation of a LibraryOther LibrariesJewish Readers in General LibrariesWhat Was Read Outside the Library?The Society for the Promotion of Enlightenment among the Jews of Russia (OPE)The Society, Yiddish, and Library AwarenessPublic Libraries: Where, How Many, and How?What Do People Read and How Much? Supply and DemandLiteracy and Yiddish in Other Cultural InstitutionsIn the Russian Arena: The All-Russian Library Conference and Its Implications for the Jewish LibrariesConclusionBibliographyIndex