The Boniuk Library serves the needs of students, educators, and academia of all ages. The collection houses over 12,000 items including books, DVD, recordings, databases, and periodicals centered on the studies of the Holocaust, human rights, and genocide. Materials are in English, French, German, Hebrew, Spanish, and Yiddish. Boniuk Library houses several unique collections including digital resources, rare books, Yizkor and Memorial books, and Self-Published Memoirs.
RESEARCH AND READING
- Reference collection – a collection of encyclopedia and authoritative resources.
- The Education Collection is a gathering of curricula, guides, and lesson plans for educators of the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights studies.
- Juvenile collection – Books for younger children center on themes like friendship, cooperation, bullying, and self-esteem. Books for children are often used in bibliotherapy to help deal with tough issues.
- Teen collection – Books for teens include diaries by teens living through the Holocaust, graphic novels, and Holocaust inspired fiction.
- Periodicals, Newspapers, Journals
MEMORIAL AND MEMOIRS
- The Memorial Books are a collection of Yizkor books, which are books written by Holocaust survivors memorializing the cities they came from. Most of these materials are in Hebrew or Yiddish, but the Library also has some English translations available. This collection does not circulate.
- The Self-Published Memoir Collection contains the documents and journals of local Holocaust survivors who share their stories in self-published and unpublished manuscripts. This collection does not circulate.
- The Special Collection is a collection of rare books and books published before 1950. Most of our Special Collection items are stored off-site and require advance notice to view. This collection does not circulate.
- The Collection of Oral Testimonies provides access to nearly 300 oral testimonies. These primary-source video interviews tell the stories of people who experienced the Holocaust, including survivors, liberators, and witnesses. Most testimonies also have transcripts available.
DIGITAL AND DATABASES
- Digital Library on Overdrive and Libby – Use the Libby app to read or listen to e-books and e-audio on the go.
- Video Library – DVDs and Blu-Ray discs expand the collection in documentaries and feature films.
- Archives Unbound – Digital access to rare primary source documents. Only available on campus.
- USC Shoah Foundation – A project of love initiated by Stephen Spielberg, the USC Shoah Foundation includes digitized video and transcripts of Holocaust Museum of Houston’s archive of survivors as well as over 54000 testimonies of Holocaust survivors and witnesses of genocide around the world.
- Fortunoff Video Archives for Holocaust Testimonies – Yale University’s video archive of survivor, liberators, and upstander testimonies. The recent addition makes the Boniuk Library at Holocaust Museum Houston one of four access centers in the state of Texas. The archive provides access to over 4400 more testimonies. On campus access only.
- Destroyed Communities Interactive Learning Center – A specially designed learning center of the communities found on the Memorial Slope of the Museum. Brief descriptions of the communities and the story of the Houston survivors from that community are accessible.
HOURS AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Boniuk Library is open by appointment only:
Sa – M Closed
T– Fr 10 am to 5 pm
Individuals and study groups may reserve library space with advance notice. Please notify the librarian in advance of any needs for assistive or adaptive technologies or for the presence of an interpreter. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact library@hmh.org.
