El Progreso Memorial Library (EPML) in Uvalde, Texas, is one of an increasing number of libraries, with help from community partners, organizing programming about handling grief during the holiday season. EPML has been a center for grief recovery since May 25, 2022. The day before, the community faced the unimaginable tragedy of losing 21 community … Continue reading Holiday Healing
It’s not unusual for libraries to offer English as a Second Language (ESL) and citizenship preparation programs. But Jones Library (JL) in Amherst, Massachusetts, has designed a program specifically for older adult beginners ages 50 and over. A college town that attracts workers and academics from around the world, Amherst has a higher immigrant population … Continue reading Older Beginners
May is Older Americans Month. 1963 Year President John F. Kennedy established Senior Citizens Month, now called Older Americans Month. 2030 Year when all baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—will be at least 65 years old. 43% Percentage of baby boomers in the US who visited a public library or bookmobile over a 12-month … Continue reading By the Numbers: Older Americans Month
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Liberty Lake (Wash.) Municipal Library (LLML) offered many programs and services for older adults, including a book club, board game events, take-home watercolor art kits, and a “right-sizing” class geared toward helping them transition to smaller homes. The library’s programs and clubs gave “older adults and seniors a place to socialize” … Continue reading Aging Masterfully
On Episode 60, Call Number with American Libraries looks at library outreach to seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. First American Libraries Associate Editor Sallyann Price speaks with David Kelsey, outreach coordinator at St. Charles (Ill.) Public Library in St. Charles, Illinois, and president of the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services, about the importance of … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Supporting Seniors during the Pandemic
For every meeting, Czulno would dress up as a character from books the club was reading and shows it was watching. For instance, when the group read the stories of G. K. Chesterton, she wore the black cape, hat, and glasses of Father Brown, the character who lent his name to the Masterpiece show. “It wasn’t just … Continue reading Tales as Old as Time
The themes of afterlife and legacy have become prominent in popular media over the past few years, but the lifecycle of our digital footprint is less understood. The Digital Legacy Association, a British organization that hosts annual conferences on the topic, defines digital legacy as the digital information left behind when a person dies. How … Continue reading Digital Legacy Planning
Fortunately, there’s the library—not as a place to make romantic connections per se, but as a resource for older adults who want to learn how to navigate the world of online dating. Several public libraries have begun offering programs that help older patrons safely and effectively meet potential partners on the internet. Among those are … Continue reading From the Library with Love
Rosenbloom, a medical librarian at University of Southern California (USC) and obituary editor for the Journal of the Medical Library Association, is a leader in the “death positive” movement and the Order of the Good Death, a group of “funeral industry professionals, academics, and artists exploring ways to prepare a death phobic culture for their … Continue reading Newsmaker: Megan Rosenbloom
Many seniors are prevented from traveling the world—or even just taking a stroll outside—by limited physical or cognitive abilities. But now, thanks to virtual reality, older patrons of Arlington Heights (Ill.) Memorial Library don’t have to feel homebound: The world is coming to them. Mary Jo Lepo, the library’s senior and accessible services manager, first … Continue reading It’s Not Such A Small World After All
Fatima Perkins, community outreach and advocacy director at Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging in Cleveland, illustrated the many opportunities libraries will have in coming years to meet needs of older adults and caregivers as demographics shift rapidly. The number of Americans over 65 is projected to more than double from 46 million today to … Continue reading A New Frontier
Godinsky says her library partnered with an area quilting club to create and donate them to patrons with memory loss and other cognitive issues. By 2050, as many as 16 million Americans may be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Hadi Finerty, senior manager of education and outreach at the Joliet, Illinois, chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, … Continue reading Community Fabric
