Tours, Presentations and Workshops
The Jewish Public Library Archives offers tours, presentations, and lectures on a regular basis. Group activities with the archives are perfect for historical societies, university and elementary school students, sisterhood and brotherhood chapters, artist residency cohorts, research fellows and more.
Why choose the JPL Archives for your group enrichment?
Exclusive Access
Gain exclusive behind-the-scenes access to a highly specialized profession run by passionate community members
History in Your Hands
Discover history first-hand through an array of historic physical artefacts
Understanding Our Communities
Expand your knowledge of a Canadian religious minority group and a Quebec language minority group
Reflect on your Roots
Deepen your own Jewish or Canadian identity through a reflection on those that came before you
Your Visit Makes a Difference
Your visit helps fund the extensive preservation needs of a local community archives
Discover Preservation
Learn bespoke preservation solutions for textiles, photographs and rare books.
In the 2026-2027 season, we are offering the following group activities.
We present our core programming on-site. Online and off-site programming can often be accommodated as well, however with reduced access to original archival records. Whenever possible, we work with groups to identify themes or curriculum topics of interest that we can highlight for you on your visit.
| ACTIVITY TITLE | Touring the Archival Stacks |
| TYPE | #Tour #Presentation |
| DESCRIPTION | Tour the stacks of the JPL Archives and learn about its trailblazing projects, its hands-on preservation work, and its unique historic collections. |
| CAPACITY | 10 |
| TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC | From teenagers to golden age researchers. Ideal for an introductory activity for a class or community group. |
| DURATION | 45 minutes |
| LANGUAGE OPTIONS |
English French Hebrew |
| COST | $75 |
| ACTIVITY TITLE | Archival Research 101; Reference and Citation |
| TYPE | #Tour #Presentation #Workshop |
| DESCRIPTION | Tour the stacks of the JPL Archives, attend an introductory presentation on archival research, and experience a hands-on guided workshop; participants learn the ABCs of archival research and do a run-through of an archival reference appointment, complete with archival boxes of documents, artefacts, photographs and more. |
| CAPACITY | 10 |
| TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC | Adults ranging from undergraduate students to golden age researchers. Ideal as an introductory activity for a class who will be working with archival materials for an assignment, or a community group interested in doing research. |
| DURATION | 90 minutes |
| LANGUAGE OPTIONS |
English French |
| COST | $175 |
| ACTIVITY TITLE | Archival Research 201; Biographical Sketches |
| TYPE | #Workshop #Discussion |
| DESCRIPTION | JPL Archivists lead participants on a hands-on, guided journey into primary sources on selected historic figures. Participants are asked to work in groups and compose a short biography based on their findings. The activity wraps up with group presentations and a guided discussion about archival absences, research discoveries, and developing discernment for reliable information sources. |
| CAPACITY | 10–15 |
| TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC | Adults ranging from undergraduate students to golden age researchers interested in learning how to conduct archival research, think critically about primary and secondary sources, and apply their findings in practice. |
| DURATION | 90 minutes |
| LANGUAGE OPTIONS |
English French |
| COST | $200 – $250 |
| ACTIVITY TITLE | The Rare Book Collection that Survived the Holocaust |
| TYPE | #Seminar |
| DESCRIPTION | Discover the stories of individual books from JPL's Rare Books Special Collection, and the remarkable survival story of the collection itself. In 1949, more than 200,000 Nazi-looted books were redistributed by the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction Inc. (JCR) around the world. The Jewish Public Library was selected as one of the trusted repositories for their stewardship. Attendees are given the opportunity to see and handle selected books from the collection. |
| CAPACITY | 75 |
| TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC | Adults ranging from undergraduate students to golden age researchers. Ideal for students and community groups interested in rare books, Jewish studies, history, and Holocaust education. |
| DURATION | 60 minutes |
| LANGUAGE OPTIONS |
English French |
| COST | $150 per group of 15 |
| ACTIVITY TITLE | The Miniature Books |
| TYPE | #Presentation |
| DESCRIPTION | The JPL holds two collections of miniature books from two remarkable women: Lilly Toth (z"l) and Daisy Gross. Both Toth and Gross survived the Holocaust and established full lives in Montreal. Together, their collections amount to over 2,500 books that make the JPL one of the most substantial North American miniature book repositories. In this seminar, JPL staff discuss what counts as a miniature book and highlight some of the JPL's unique volumes. Attendees are given the opportunity to see and handle miniature books. Time is allotted for audience questions. |
| CAPACITY | 15 |
| TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC | Youth or adults. Level of content complexity can be adjusted per demographic. |
| DURATION | 60 minutes |
| LANGUAGE OPTIONS |
English French |
| COST | $150 |
Book a Group Visit
If you would like to book one of the JPL Archives' programs, please fill out the form below and a JPL Archives staff member will respond to your request within 10 business days. Please note that filling out this form does not confirm your booking.