YIVO

YIVO (Yiddish: ייִוואָ, jiˈvɔ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. (The word yidisher means both "Yiddish" and "Jewish.") Established in 1925 in Wilno in the Second Polish Republic (now Vilnius, Lithuania) as the Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut (Yiddish: ייִדישער װיסנשאַפֿטלעכער אינסטיטוט, ˈjidiʃɛr ˈvisn.ʃaftlɛχɛr instiˈtut, Yiddish Scientific Institute, its English name became Institute for Jewish Research after its relocation to New York City, but it is still known mainly by its Yiddish acronym. YIVO is now a partner of the Center for Jewish History. Formerly, they had linguists whose main occupation was deciding on grammar rules and new words, and during this time they were seen in the secular world to serve as the recognized language regulator of the Yiddish language. However, YIVO no longer serves this purpose. Nevertheless, the YIVO system is still commonly taught in universities and known as klal shprakh (spelled in Yiddish:כּלל־שפּראַך, meaning 'standard language') and sometimes "YIVO Yiddish" (spelled in Yiddish:ייִוואָ־ייִדיש). YIVO preserves manuscripts, rare books, and diaries, and other Yiddish sources. The YIVO Library in New York contains over 385,000 volumes dating from as early as the 16th century. Approximately 40,000 volumes are in Yiddish, making the YIVO Library the largest collection of Yiddish-language works in the world. The YIVO archives hold over 23,000,000 documents, photographs, recordings, posters, films, and other artifacts. Together, they comprise the world's largest collection of materials related to the history and culture of Central and East European Jewry and the American Jewish immigrant experience. The archives and library collections include works in twelve major languages, including English, French, German, Hebrew, Russian, Polish, and Judaeo-Spanish.