Yiddish Book Center Receives $100,000 Capital Grant from MassDevelopment and Massachusetts Cultural Council Cultural Facilities Fund

AMHERST, MA (May 22, 2023) — The Yiddish Book Center announced that it has been awarded a capital grant in the amount of $100,000 from the MassDevelopment and Mass Cultural Counci Cultural Facilities Fund. This grant will support the Center's crucial infrastructure project to replace its aging boilers and heating system. 

Founded in 1980, the Yiddish Book Center has been preserving and promoting Yiddish language and culture for over four decades. Located on a picturesque ten-acre apple orchard adjacent to the Hampshire College campus in Amherst, Massachusetts, the Center opened its current facility in 1997. 

The replacement of the original boilers, which have been in service since 1996, is essential to ensure the ongoing safety and functioning of the facility. The project will involve installing high-condensing, low-fire energy-efficient boilers, updating piping, valves, and controls, and integrating the system with the existing geothermal HVAC controls. Additionally, the project will include the replacement of circulating pumps and pneumatic control systems with more efficient Ecocirc pumps, as well as the elimination of the compressor, reducing the need for regular service and inspections. The replacement of the boilers will significantly enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and support the Center's ongoing efforts to maintain an environmentally responsible facility. 

"We are immensely grateful to MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support of this project," said Susan Bronson, executive director of the Yiddish Book Center. "Capital improvements and major maintenance projects pose significant challenges in terms of funding. It is not easy to raise funds for behind-the-scenes projects like boiler replacements. This grant will ensure the continued functionality and sustainability of our facility, allowing us to serve our community and fulfill our mission for years to come.” 

Funded annually through the Governor’s Capital Spending Plan, this round of cultural facilities grants is supported by a $10 million capital bond appropriation approved in 2022. The Healey-Driscoll administration has also proposed a $10 million appropriation in its second supplemental budget to support an additional round of the program. 

For more information contact Rebecka McDougall, Director of Communications & Marketing, at [email protected] or 413-409-5118.

About the Yiddish Book Center

The Yiddish Book Center is a nonprofit organization working to recover, celebrate, and regenerate Yiddish and modern Jewish literature and culture.

The million Yiddish books recovered by the Yiddish Book Center represent Jews’ first sustained literary and cultural encounter with the modern world. They are a window onto the past thousand years of Jewish history, a precursor of modern Jewish writing in English, Hebrew, and other languages, and a springboard for new creativity. Since its founding in 1980, the Center has launched a wide range of bibliographic, educational, and cultural programs to share these treasures with the wider world. Visit YiddishBookCenter.org to learn more.