From 1990 the Fuks collection has been in the possession of the Provincial Library, currently Tresoar. Donor Leo Fuks died in this year at the age of 81. Fuks was born in Poland and lived in the Netherlands from 1934 onward. To say thanks for the help of the Frisian people to the Jewish community in the Netherlands during WW2, Fuks decided in 1976 that his collection would go to the Province of Friesland after his death.
Another reason for the donation of his collection to Friesland was to supplement the existing Hebrew works in Tresoar. The library is the proud owner of the Hebrew collection of the former University of Franeker. This collection includes works from the Hebrew scholar Drusius, professor in Franeker from 1585 to 1616.
Fuks also preferred a donation to Friesland because the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana in Amsterdam had already many works from the Fuks collection. Fuks was custodian of this library from 1949 to 1973.
Fuks made it a condition for donating his collection to Friesland to have it displayed in a separate room. For that reason Tresoar set aside part of an existing room as an open display arrangement.
Members of the public may study the works at Tresoar or take them out on loan. The old works are kept in a secure place and may be read in the Fuks room.
The Fuks collection has some 3,000 volumes, including Hebrew prints dating back from before 1800, made in the Netherlands and abroad. Other unique items are a collection of old Yiddish prints, a collection called 'Emancipation of the Jews in the Netherlands' from 1796, a scientific reference library of the Hebrew language and literature (kept fully up-to-date), a number of complete magazines and 18th Century Hebrew manuscripts and single-copy prints from the Netherlands. Researchers have now proper access to the Hebrew works – some of which Fuks literally saved from destruction.
The collection is kept up-to-date and has now grown to more than 5,000 works. Later acquisitions are mainly written in European languages.