PJ Library (PJ for pyjamas!) gifts away high-quality Jewish books to families with children from birth through 8 years old each month. The award-winning, non-denominational books celebrate Jewish culture, values and traditions through a wide range of stories and beautiful illustrations. PJ Library books are posted directly to children so they can build their own Jewish bedtime libraries.
Each month a new book is sent out to thousands of children in the UK, some of them timeless Jewish classics and some modern interpretations. Many are new and original stories.
PJ Library subscriptions are offered at no cost to families thanks to generous support from sponsors, subscribing families and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation
Meet the Team!
Lauren Hamburger
Lauren is Director of PJ Library in the UK, responsible for the organisation’s strategy and infrastructure. She first heard about PJ Library when she was living in New York with her young family and loved reading the imaginative PJ Library books as much as her children did. She realised UK families would also welcome PJ Library into their homes and was excited to launch it in early 2015. Outside of the office, Lauren works with different organisations to expand opportunities for women in Judaism.
Sara Kibel
Sara is the Director of Community Engagement at PJ Library in the UK working with all of our fantastic community partners from synagogues, schools, cheders, nurseries, community centres and beyond. When she is not creating programmes and events for PJ Library, she can be found with a paintbrush in hand, creating designs for hundreds of kippot every year.
Sharon Blackstone
Sharon is Director of Development UK and Europe responsible for raising the necessary funds to enable PJ Library to gift the wonderful books to families raising Jewish children. Her career has always centered around building strong relationships and making things happen, and she started her working life in business development within the corporate world then moved onto managing her own internet retail business to more recently as the Fundraising Director at JW3. Having spent her childhood and formative years in both Israel and Norway, Sharon lives in London with her husband, three girls and Ozzy the Doodle.
Madelyn Travis
Madelyn is Chair of the Content Advisory Committee of PJ Library in the UK. Born in New York and raised in Rockland County, she has lived in London for over 20 years. Madelyn has a PhD in children’s literature and is the author of Jews and Jewishness in British Children’s Literature. She has interviewed many authors and illustrators for the educational charity Book Trust, has written about Jewish children’s literature for the Jewish press and is a freelance editor for children’s publishers.
Mikhalina Levis
Lina is originally from St. Petersburg and is passionate about creating opportunities for Jewish Communities to thrive and connect. Lina has extensive experience in global organisations as project and product manager. In the last 5 years she volunteered as part of the Limud FSU Europe organising committee. In her spare time, Lina loves venturing on outdoor adventures with her family.
Lisa Culligan
Lisa is the Customer Services and Operations Manager for PJ Library in the UK. She comes from a background in children’s book publishing and lives in Brighton with her family.
Advisory Board
Chair - Libby Dangoor is the Chief of Staff at Multiverse, an education technology company building an outstanding alternative to university and corporate training through professional apprenticeships. Prior to joining Multiverse, Libby was the Operations Director for NowTeach working to establish the charity and their first cohorts of career changers into teaching. Before this she was a Venture Partner at Ark and Portfolio Director at the Social Business Trust, working with social enterprises to scale their impact across the UK. She spent five years as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company. Libby is a school governor at Westminster Academy and an active member of the S&P Sephardi Community.
Lana Saffrin Betesh graduated from the University of Illinois before qualifying as a US attorney. She returned to London, qualified as a solicitor, working at Berwin Leighton Paisner and later at Gherson where she became a partner in Discreet Law. While a student in America, she worked for AIPAC and wrote “A Guide to Jewish Student Leadership”. She has worked with BICOM and Chabad Lubavitch UK, chairing the ONE Dinner since 2010. Lana is on the Advisory Board of Stand With Us UK and is active in other communal organisations including South Hampstead Synagogue and Mitzvah Day.
Dr. Marina Sapritsky-Nahum is originally from Moscow, Russia. She holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics where she is currently based as a post-Doctoral Visiting Fellow. Marina’s initial research was based in Odessa, Ukraine analysing the transformation of Jewish practices since the collapse of state Socialism. Her current research looks at Global Judaism and Transnational Jewish identities in London. Marina is also involved with a number of Jewish education grassroot initiatives in Ukraine and the UK. She lives in London with her husband and children and in her free time she loves to read and write stories.