OUR COMMUNITY

F

or Pasteur Elementary School 
graduate Elizabeth “Liz” 
Jacobs, the school’s library, 
a sunlit room with dark wooden 
shelves, was a happy place presided 
over by the school’s longtime librar-
ian, Mrs. Robinson. Jacobs, who 
graduated in 1962, is one of many 
Jewish alumni of Pasteur, located at 
Stoepel and Pembroke in Northwest 
Detroit. She is the recording sec-
retary of the Friends of Pasteur, a 
nonprofit support organization for 
the school.
Mrs. Robinson retired years ago, 
and the library was transformed 
into a testing room with large tables 
crowded with desktop computers. 
“They needed a room for computer 
testing and moved in desks. The 
other furniture and card catalogue 
were moved out. The last time a 
book was taken out was in 2006,” 
Jacobs explains. 
The remaining books were stored 
in a hodgepodge collection of car-
tons and disorganized stacks on the 
shelves. However, when the school 
switched to using laptops in class-
rooms for testing and other pur-
poses, Jacobs saw the possibility of 
reconstituting the library.
“It had the bones for a good 
library,” she said, and thought it 
would be a good project to under-
take. Jacobs met with Michelle Hall, 
Pasteur’s principal, who was sup-
portive of her vision for the library. 
Jacobs then recruited volunteers, 
including many fellow members of 

the Friends of Pasteur, as well as 
other individuals with a desire to 
help. Deborah Manning, a co-found-
er of the Pasteur Alumni Association 
— predecessor to the Friends of 
Pasteur and a current member of its 
board — was a strong supporter of 
the library project, Jacobs says.
Over a period of about three 
months, 15 volunteers sorted 
through hundreds of books, elimi-
nating those that were obsolete or in 
bad condition, and then organized, 
dusted and shelved those that were 
usable. (Some books were returned 
to the central school district.) The 
Friends of Pasteur spent more than 
$1,000 on 181 new books and other 
items for the library. 
Another 10 volunteers helped 
Jacobs select new books for the 
library, focusing on books that have 
received the prestigious Newbery 
and Caldecott awards for children’s 
literature. Pasteur teachers provided 
ideas for the library collection as 
well. 
A library open house was held 
in early December so students and 
teachers could see the orderly, cheer-
ful library and celebrate its opening 
with special cakes featuring pictures 
of the library and the inspirational 
slogan “Reading is an adventure that 
never ends.”
The teachers are working out a 
schedule so that each class will have 
a designated weekly time in the 
library. In addition, the library will 
be used for tutoring and special edu-

Students can once again 
check out books.

Volunteers 
Reopen Pasteur 
School Library

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

30 | JANUARY 5 • 2022 

Elizabeth Jacobs 
with Michelle Hall, 
Pasteur’s principal.

Cary Levy, corresponding secretary of the Friends of 
Pasteur, and Wendy Wagenheim, Friends chairperson, in 
the newly reopened library.

