After seven years of work, the Vilnius Jewish Library will be opening on December 16, at Gedimino Prospektas 24, LT 01013 Vilnius, Lithuania. The first Jewish library in Lithuania since the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto in 1943, it is the brainchild of Wyman Brent, a long-haired, self-described atheist from San Diego, who has made founding the library a mission.
As The Forward wrote in a recent lengthy profile of Brent:
Brent has spent $50,000 of his own money and seven years building up his curious collection, mostly buying used books, CDs and DVDs in stores and online. In 2008, he shipped his collection — about 4,500 items packed in 165 boxes — from San Diego to Vilna.