The Books: Journey Home
John Riemer, Head of the Cataloging and Metadata Center, looked at the digital copies on HathiTrust. He confirmed that each of the books bore Prague JRC Library ownership stamps and accession numbers, which were indicated in the pre-WWII catalog. Mizrachi then physically examined the books and confirmed Riemer’s findings. To ensure that UCLA Library patrons would have continued access to complete and legible digital copies, she did a page-by-page comparison of the physical books against the scans on HathiTrust and Google Books. Based on her recommendation, one volume—Sefer Teshuvat ha-Geonim—will be re-digitized to achieve a higher quality scan. Mizrachi also recommended that the unprocessed book—Teshuvot Ketav Sofer—be digitized. UCLA Library’s Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF) Imaging Services Department will conduct the scanning.
Chela Metzger, Head of Preservation and Conservation, also examined the books. The curators of this exhibit, along with Mizrachi, met with Metzger on April 6, 2022, to learn more about the books’ physical conditions and needs. She drew our attention to Sefer ha-Shorashim ha-Mekhuneh Sefat Emet—the green volume at the bottom of the stack pictured, which shows all of the Judaica books together. Metzger noted that UCLA Library had bound, or possibly rebound, this particular volume at some point in its life at the University. As evidence of a possible earlier binding, she noted remnants of blue paper still adhered to the textblock.
Additionally, Metzger noted marks of UCLA’s ownership on each of the books, e.g., call numbers, accession numbers, and location stickers that had been affixed to the spines or inside covers. According to her, some institutions returning books to their rightful owners offer the services of their conservator to remove evidence like UCLA’s ownership marks as part of the repatriation process. After consulting with Kohout about this possible action, Mizrachi reported that the JMP team preferred for the books to remain unaltered. In general, removing marks and labels of ownership from cultural heritage items is risky, and can cause potentially permanent damage.
On May 11, 2022, UCLA Library hosted a private event at which University Librarian Ginny Steele symbolically returned the books to the Consul General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles Jaroslav Olša, Jr. After UCLA Library staff deaccessioned the books from the Library's catalog, Metzger shipped them in early July. On August 4, 2022, the books arrived safely in Prague.