Borders begins
hosting Jewish
activities and
classes at
Farmington Hills
store.
14
n Relations
he calendar of community events seeking avenues to spread the
at the new Borders Bookstore on word about the new Florence
Orchard Lake Road speaks vol- Melton Mini-School. Specifically,
umes.
she wanted to reach people not
There is a program for post-re- formally affiliated with the Jew-
tirement investment, a storytime ish community.
for toddlers, a discussion group
Ms. Kaplan brought the idea
for gays and lesbians, events for to Ms. Dubrinsky, who at the
Black History Month.
time was the community rela-
But the area with the most en- tions coordinator for the Novi
tries so far relates to the Jewish Borders store.
community.
The two worked out a plan;
There is "Cupid
Meets Moses — At Bor-
ders," a three-part class
on what Jewish tradi-
tion has to say about
love, sexuality and re-
lated topics. And a new
Jewish authors and top-
ics discussion group will
continue for several
months.
As a corporate strat-
egy, Borders is binding
itself to the communi-
ties it serves, in part by
reaching out to groups
that make up its mar-
keting areas. In the new
store, one major focus of
the West
Bloomfield/Farmington
Hills area is the Jewish
community.
"We always try to
open our stores to local
groups," said Karen
Dubrinsky, community
relations coordinator for
the store. "In this area,
it is the Jewish commu-
nity. ,,
Ms. Dubrinsky, a li-
aison for the Young
Adult Division of the
Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit to
the Agency for Jewish
Education, is responsi-
ble for the calendar. She
makes an effort to in-
Karen Dubrinsky
clude all different com-
AJE would advertise a
ponents of the prepares for classes Melton Mini-School
at Borders.
community but was es-
sample class and the
pecially interested in be-
Novi store would pro-
ginning with the Jewish vide space.
population.
Posters went up, fliers were
"It was a natural fit. Jews have passed out and 12 people came to
always had a cultural emphasis the class.
on learning and books," she said,
"We wanted to make people
adding that her liaison position aware and interested in Jewish
helped make the connection be- education. Where better than a
tween the giant book dealer and bookstore," Ms. Kaplan said, re-
the Jewish community.
marking about the success of the
The relationship began with a novel idea. "Of the 12 who came
small event. Nancy Kaplan, di- to the presentation, 11 signed up
rector of Midrasha at AJE, was for the class."
Ms. Dubrinsky, who started as
a clerk in the 13 Mile and South-
field road location, moved from
Novi to the Farmington Hills
store on Orchard Lake Road near
14 Mile Road when it opened in
mid-November.
"I feel most at home here so I
was very excited when this store
opened," she said.
"My job now is to get the word
out that Borders is not just a store
fit 70 people, but it will work," she
said. "We'll just bring in more
chairs, take out the tables..."
Her next project is the Jewish
authors and topics discussion
group which is forming and will
hold its first meeting at 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 16 in the cafe area of the
store. The first featured book is
Then She Found Me by Elinor
Lipman.
The group, co-hosted by Amy
but is a place where you can come
and learn and feel comfortable
while you are doing it," she said.
And she has. Within days of
assuming her new position, an-
other flier was distributed, urg-
ing people to sign up for the
three-part love series. More than
70 people have committed them-
selves thus far.
This class, as well as other
events, will take place in the huge
store's Cafe Espresso, a large cof-
fee shop in the front of the build-
ing.
"I don't know yet how we will
Milner who is also involved with
YAD, will meet once a month.
The list of books and topics will
be determined at a later date, Ms.
Dubrinsky said. El
PHOTO BY BILL G EM MELL
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
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