Group Tours

Looking for an engaging activity for your school group or Yiddish club? Perhaps a day trip for your senior center? The Book Center offers guided tours by appointment for all kinds of community organizations.

Group tours generally begin with our 13-minute orientation film, A Bridge of Books, in which founder Aaron Lansky vividly recounts the story of the Center and its mission. Following the film, you’ll be joined by a member of our Visitors Center staff for a guided tour of our collections and our permanent exhibit, A Portable Homeland, which traces the history and richness of Yiddish language, literature and culture from Europe to America.

You’ll also want plenty of time to peruse the stacks in our beautiful, light-filled book repository, which contains our core collection of 150,000 Yiddish books, and a unique assortment of Yiddish sheet music. In our theater, you can watch selections of classic Yiddish films, or listen to recordings of old-time Yiddish radio broadcasts. Other highlights include several galleries of changing exhibits, a reading library, and in good weather, our lovely outdoor Yiddish Writers Garden. Finally, our English-language bookstore is fully stocked with the finest in Jewish books, gifts, and audio and video recordings.

View our Visit Us section for hours and directions, or for more about what you'll see at the National Yiddish Book Center.

To schedule a group tour, Please contact our Visitors Center Director, Jane Gronau, at 413-256-4900 ext. 107, visit@bikher.org