Fonds 1270 - Education Resource Centre Collection

The Education Resource Centre (ERC), was initiated by the joint Canadian Jewish Congress-Allied Jewish Community Services-Canadian Zionist Federation Education Committee in 1974 as a teachers’ centre. Its initial policies and directions were begun under the guidance of the Association of Principals of Jewish Schools (known at the time as the Principals’ Council).

In October 1975, the ERC became a service of the Jewish Education Council. Its operation was entrusted to a management committee consisting of lay leaders, principals and teachers. Minimum part-time staff was engaged and the ERC began regular service to schools from its one-room facility at the Chevra Kadisha B’nai Jacob Synagogue on Clanranald Avenue. During its first three months of operation there were fewer than 200 visitors to the Centre.

The Centre was then moved to a suite on the second floor of Cummings House with the Jewish Education Council of Greater Montreal. It contained a respectable resource library, an audio-visual and arts and crafts room, a teachers’ den, seminar room, a publication office, cataloguing room, project office and administrative offices. A sound studio and video centre were also developed. The proximity of the office to the Jewish Public Library also allowed for easy access to resources in that institution.

The Canadian Zionist Federation provided additional budget. Both federal and provincial governments also provided funding for major curriculum development projects as well as for in-service professional seminars and workshops.

Teachers, program personnel of community organizations, and students visited the Centre regularly. ERC staff participated in planning a wide range of community programs related to Jewish education in its broadest sense.

The fundamental purpose of the Education Resource Centre was the enhancement of the quality of Jewish education, both formal and informal. Besides serving as a source for borrowing educational material and audio-visual equipment and for curriculum development, the ERC encouraged professional growth of Jewish educators through specialized workshops, in-service university credit courses, and individual and group consultation for creative planning.

In 2010, the ERC was closed and the resources dismantled. The closure was part of community-wide efforts to restructure resources, cut down on duplication of services and also a means of meeting the changing educational needs of Jewish schools of Montreal.

Source: Taken in part from the “Executive Director’s Report to the Jewish Education Council of Greater Montreal, Summary of Activities: 1975-1981”