The library is named after the first director at the STI since it was located in the Beit Tavor. His name was Hans Kosmala (1903-1981). He studied theology in Breslau and later Jewish studies in Leipzig at the Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum. There he became the director before the Nazis closed the institute and burned the library in 1935. Hans Kosmala was the director at the STI from 1951 to 1971.
The upper library
The upper library is the open library where four computers with access to internet, word processing and printing are located. The guests and students who use these facilities must remove books and working materials after each session.
The book shelves in the upper library are confined to religious texts, Bibles, the Mishna, the Talmud, the Quran, scholarly periodicals and general dictionaries for open display and use. Also current books about Jerusalem, guide books and pilgrim books are stocked here. Also newly bought books along with books written or edited by STI scholars will be put on display in the upper library.
The lower library contains the main library stock with seats only for the librarian and two scholars. The upper library is the “social library” with computers, texts, periodicals and dictionaries.
This lower part of the library is the main stock of the books in the STI library. The librarian and two scholars have their seats here. They have full accessibility to the library catalogue. They are also ready to answer the questions of library students and STI guests. The lower library is a quiet area.
