Bookish Ways to Celebrate
Jewish American Heritage Month

This May, we invite all booklovers and booksellers (and librarians and educators) to help us honor the rich history, culture, and contributions of Jewish communities through the power of stories. Whether you’re looking to diversify your shelves, spark meaningful conversations, or simply discover new voices, we’ve gathered easy and inspiring ideas to help you recognize this important month.

From highlighting Jewish authors and curating themed displays to hosting book club discussions or sharing your favorite reads online, there are so many simple ways to celebrate. Together, let’s uplift Jewish stories, honor heritage, and champion inclusion—one book at a time.

Did You Know: May is Jewish American Heritage Month in the United States, and it’s also Jewish Heritage Month in Canada!

Below, you’ll find fun and simple ideas that can help you celebrate!

Ideas for Booksellers. (& Librarians & Educators)

Create a front-of-store display to greet customers with a celebration of Jewish books.

Helpful Hint: Think beyond Holocaust books. While those books matter, there is so much more to Jewish life, history, and culture—and this is a perfect time to let your Jewish customers know you understand and see them.

Include books that feature Jewish characters; books about Jewish history across time and place; cookbooks and poetry collections and translations from Hebrew, Yiddish, and so many other languages. (Want specific suggestions? Check our own lists on Bookshop.org. Our friends at the Jewish Book Council and the Association of Jewish Libraries also have plenty of excellent book recommendations available for you.)

Ask staff to write shelf-talkers for selected books to offer more personal recommendations.

Select books by Jewish authors/Jewish stories for your book clubs.

Use Jewish American Heritage Month as a springboard theme for all of your clubs, from children’s books through adult readers.

Host a reading or panel featuring local Jewish authors.

Invite a debut author, or one with a recent Jewish release, to launch their new title at your store. Need help finding Jewish authors in your community? Reach out to see if we can help connect you to our community of authors!

(As you select participants to feature in any event, we encourage you to consider this guidance, aimed toward K-12 educators but broadly relevant, from the American Jewish Committee.)

Mention Jewish American Heritage Month in your May newsletter(s)!

Commit to incorporating Jewish authors and stories into ongoing efforts.

Jewish books truly are diverse books; you can find intersectional Jewish stories for virtually every occasion (LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Disability Pride Month, etc.). Look for such stories among the resources we’ve already shared, as well as in publishers’ catalogs. Many publishers routinely include Jewish titles in their lists; some university presses feature Jewishly-focused series; there are entire imprints and companies—Kar-Ben Publishing, Schocken Books, and Ben Yehuda Press are just a few examples—that are devoted to publishing Jewish books for readers of all ages/interests.

For additional guidance, check out our very own Bookstore Guide, developed in partnership with the Jewish Book Council.

Ideas for Booklovers

Read a book by a Jewish writer.

Tell a friend about it. If you’re on social media, post about it, too.

Read a book by a Jewish writer. Tell a friend about it. If you’re active on social media, post about it, too.

Attend an event featuring Jewish books and/or authors.

Both online and in-person events “count”! There are also plenty of recordings of author appearances and panels available for on-demand viewing.

Put a book by a Jewish author in a Little Free Library.

Check out Jewish books from your local library.

(And while you’re there, ask your library to create a Jewish American Heritage Month display!)

Follow new-to-you Jewish authors on social media and amplify their content!

And don’t forget to sign up for their newsletters!

Recommend a Jewish title or titles to:

  • your book club

  • your local public library

  • a school library

  • your favorite independent bookstore

Gift Jewish books for birthdays, holidays, and other occasions.

Follow Jewish bookstagrammers!

You can find them through hashtags like #Jewishbookstagrammer and #Jewishbookstagramtour.

Rely on expertise from Jewish-book organizations such as the Association of Jewish Libraries, the Jewish Book Council, and PJ Library (books for children).

We would like to thank bookseller Noam Segal for her assistance in compiling this page.

We’re also grateful to Liza Wiemer, Chana Stiefel, Ellen Warach Leventhal, Erika Dreifus, Lisa Simon Gerin, Jessica Fink, Steve Fink, Stacey Wineberg, Michal Babay, Debbi Weinberg Lakritz, Charlotte Offsay, Ann Koffsky, Lauren Heller Kerstein, and Heidi Rabinowitz whose work to share the joy of Jewish books has informed some of the guidance offered here.

Looking for More Resources?

Check out our Resources Page and download the Bookstore Guide we created in partnership with the Jewish Book Council. And remember—Jewish American Heritage Month is every May, but you can celebrate and lift up Jewish voices all year long. Feel free to send us an email if you’re looking for specific guidance.