JEWISH BOOK COUNCIL, THE

JEWISH BOOK COUNCIL, THE, the literary arm of the organized Jewish community. The Council was established in 1946 in North America and became an international organization in 2005 with the establishment of the Jewish Book Council in Israel. The renaissance of Jewish books in the English-speaking world served as catalyst to expand its boundaries.   The world-wide mission is to promote the reading, writing and publishing of quality English language books of Jewish interest. Among its most prominent activities to advance these goals are sponsorship of the National Jewish Book Awards, now in its 55th year, and sponsorship of Jewish Book Month, which runs annually 30 days before Ḥanukkah. Among its publications are Jewish Book Annual and Jewish Book World: the Publishers Weekly of the Jewish World. Italso features Jewish Book NETWORK, a membership organization to promote Jewish book fairs in North America and Israel, and participates in major conferences, including the Jerusalem Book Fair, to promote Jewish books. The Council sponsors combined author programs between Israeli and American writers, and it serves as a resource for information on Jewish literature. (Carolyn Hessel (2nd ed.)