Story time and JELLY ice cream party in Jerusalem
Don’t get nauseous yet. A JELLY ice cream party is not what you think. Thanks to a friend, I have now been exposed to a whole new kind of JELLY – the Jerusalem English Library for Youth, one that is not red and gooey, but instead offers story time, day camps and other activities, including an ice cream party at the end of the summer (for free!).
As an English speaker living in Israel, I have to make a concerted effort to teach my daughter English. My husband speaks to her in Spanish and she learns Hebrew at daycare. So, I was obviously excited when I found out that there is English story time in Jerusalem. This gives my daughter another place to hear English and for me, another place to connect with other English-speaking parents.
JELLY (Jerusalem English Library for Youth) is an AACI program that offers the following:
- Monday evening story time: Each week, different parents volunteer to read books over a half hour. The story hour is free.
- When: Mondays at 4:15pm. September 1 to the end of June.
- Location: Baka Matnas (community center) at 3 Issachar St.
- Contact: Deborah, 02-671-8514
- Summer JELLY ice cream party: To encourage kids to read, the goal of the party is to have kids read (or have read to them) 10 books.
- When: Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 4-6pm.
- Location: Gan HaShoshanim park (Pinsker St, Talbieh)
- Admission is free. Call AACI 02-561-7151 to RSVP
- The JELLY Summer Theatre Workshop: The 12-day workshop is for 6-9th graders with the thrill of being on stage, as well as the crafts that go into producing a show, culminating in two an evening performances of a play, on stage in a theatre for family and friends.
- When: July 16-31 2012
- Location: Baka Matnas (community center) at 3 Issachar St.
- Contact: Deborah, 02-671-8514
- Camp JELLY – an Adventure with Books: for kids going into gan hova or 1st grade. All activities such as arts and crafts, games, songs are based on books -each day with a different writer or theme. Lively but structured with aim to encourage English and a love of books.
- When: August 12-16 2012
- Location: Baka Matnas (community center) at 3 Issachar St.
- Contact: Deborah, 02-671-8514
- English library for youth: The Baka library has 50% English books. The picture books for younger kids (and teachers’ library) are on the 2nd floor and all other books of the Baka library including easy readers to adults are on the 1st floor. JELLY volunteers do the mending, shelving, entering books into computer, etc.
- Hours: The Baka library is open Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 2-7pm & Tuesdays 9-12am
- Taking out books: To join is free with a security check.
- Location: Baka Matnas (community center) at 3 Issachar St.
- Phone number: 02-671-1734
Any other questions about JELLY or ice cream, you can be in touch with Deborah Lionarons jellyaaci@gmail.com
The Big Felafel 
It’s worth noting that the Baka library closes every summer for a couple of weeks in August (I forget the exact dates this year). Not the best time of year for a public library to close. The reason given is that the community center it’s located in closes during that time and the library must also close due to security issues. (Other Jerusalem libraries that have their own buildings stay open in August.)
Two special (and free) JELLY story hours with crafts for the 3-5 age group are scheduled for July 18 at the Ramat Eshkol Library, and July 26 at the Katamon Library (Yehuda HaNassi), both at 4:30 pm.
| Posted 10 years, 8 months agoJulie, Thanks so much for that info – you totally saved me a disappointing trip in August. And thanks for the info about JELLY at the other locations.
| Posted 10 years, 8 months ago