Publishing Seforim
28. One may use maaser money for the expenses of publishing a sefer, whether it be his or another’s, since everyone is considered poor regarding Torah (שו"ת אמר שמואל יו"ד סי' ד'). This is only true for a sefer that many people need (חזו"א, דרך אמונה פ"ז צ יה"ל ס"ק ס'), such as a sefer that aids in understanding Torah or clarifies pshat for children, or a halacha work that will assist those learning halacha or facilitate its fulfillment.
29. Gilyonos. Likewise, one may use maaser to produce weekly papers that spread Torah to the public with the above conditions.
Purchasing Seforim
30. From a poor author. One may use maaser to buy a sefer from a poor author if he would not otherwise buy it (ספר חסידים סי' תתרל"ה ).
31. For a beis medrash. One may use maaser money to buy seforim and leave them in a beis medrash for general use.
32. For a home. Based on the minhag to also use maaser money for mitzvos (above, 2), the poskim allowed one to buy seforim and keep them in his house to learn unless he would have bought them even without maaser money (ט"ז יו"ד סי' רמ"ט סק"א, ש"ך סק"ג ). He must note in the seforim that they were bought with maaser money so his heirs will not keep them for themselves (ט"ז שם ).
33. However, the contemporary poskim do not allow this. Back when most people did not own seforim, if one would buy a sefer, others would benefit by borrowing it. Nowadays that seforim abound, buying a sefer for one’s home does not benefit others (ערוה"ש סי' רמ"ט ס"י, שו"ת אבני ישפה ח"א סי' קצ"א בשם הגר"ש וואזנר, הגר"ח קנייבסקי, דרך אמונה פ"ז ביה"ל ד"ה ואחד מעשר ). Nevertheless, if necessary and with no other option, one may be meikel and rely on this (הגרשז"א ).
