Libraries for senior living places

The topic of libraries in nursing homes came up today on the American Library Association listserve, SeniorServ. A volunteer in a nursing home posed several questions about setting up library service in the nursing home: what to purchase, how to arrange, and collection management (control, multiple locations). The answers she received in just one day’s time were: a webliography companion to Serving Seniors: a How To Do It Manual for Librarians, a webliography from the National Council on Aging, roving library carts, maximizing use of the state’s library for the blind and physically handicapped, and the “Play Away” gadget I previously wrote about.

It struck me, as I thought through my multitype library hat, that once again the issues she’s raising are the same in other types of libraries. So, I thought I’d blog my response and send it to her.

Dispersed collections, for instance, are maintained in schools and hospitals. Many public libraries provide delivery or deposit collections in senior living facilities, as well as other places library materials are needed, such as day care centers, senior centers, community centers, or social service agencies. Library automation systems do a real good job of keeping track of where items are. Regional libraries provide rotating collections, such as large print or movies.

My organization just completed a project we called Senior Techies, funded through LSTA funds. We partnered with 14 libraries that provided training space and hospitality; we provided trainers for 5 classes at each library. We taught basic computing skills, including E-mail and digital photography. The program was a tremendous success, and demand for additional classes is so huge that we’re looking for additional funding to expand the program.

I encourage the writer to contact her local public library and build a partnership. If the library doesn’t have a program in place to provide this, I hope they will consider it. Libraries need to provide staffing and service to seniors, just as we provide children’s librarians. Perhaps the library and senior living facilities could build a jointly funded collaborative that maintains a rotating collection of books, movies, games, and discussion materials.

This topic is very near and dear to my heart, having become intimately familiar with nursing homes through 7 years of nursing home residence by my father and mother-in-law in separate cities. Neither of them would have benefited from library services on-site because of their mental and physical conditions. However, I met many other residents whose quality of life would have been greatly enhanced. Or, a library could provide picture books for reading to small visitors – or even reminiscing by the seniors themselves. A library would also have been welcomed by spouses who spent long hours during daily visits. A library could also provide computers and Internet connections, with appropriate adaptive technology for persons with disabilities.

Along the same lines, I ran into a new blog, Library Services to Boomers and Older Adults, by Allan Kleiman, who will be teaching a class in service to older adults for the San Jose State Library School. In one of his posts, he discusses the proposed merger into IMLS of the functions of NCLIS and NCES and states that he hopes that at least one member of the staff or advisory board should be knowledgeable in providing services to older adults. I echo his hope for all public libraries, that they equip knowledgeable staff to provide this important service.