A recent article in Wired Magazine^[1] described the work of BettVR With Age, which created a series of cinematic virtual reality experiences intended to be used with seniors experiencing impairment to mobility and/or cognition. These films were largely focused on entertainment: museums, concerts, and travel. Loaded onto an Android phone and then placed in a Gear VR, a homebound tester was able to visit a nightclub on the Upper East Side and enjoy a musical performance he could otherwise only dream about.^[2] For some time, music has shown to benefit a person’s memory. According to Music & Memory, Inc:

“Even for persons with severe dementia, music can tap deep emotional recall. Favorite music or songs associated with important personal events can trigger memory of lyrics and the experience connected to the music. Beloved music often calms chaotic brain activity and enables the listener to focus on the present moment and regain a connection to others.”^[3]

As virtual reality can provide an extremely immersive experience, it is increasingly being viewed as a tool to combat declining memory. While the study of VR technology’s effect on brain chemistry is still young, signs are encouraging.^[4] Beyond this application, this technology has the ability to virtually transport a homebound patron to another place they may no longer be able to visit! Rather than simply deliver materials to these patrons, we can grant them a digital avenue to experience the world! So where do libraries come in?

Providing the Hardware:

Virtual reality hardware comes in many forms. There are VR headsets that can piggyback onto a smartphone such as the Samsung Gear for Android, as well as many other options that are iPhone compatible. These could be made available for short or long-term loan. This is a very inexpensive solution, however, there are drawbacks. For starters, the recipient or their caregiver would need to provide their own smartphone. Additionally, VR experiences would need to be downloaded, and in the case of paid content, purchased by the borrower.

More robust solutions including the Occulus Rift and the HTC Vive (as well as an appropriately spec’d computer) can provide the most immersive experience available–at a cost of well over $2,000. Apps can be managed by a library using a cloud-based Steam account. The size and complexity of such systems seem best suited to providing outreach to senior communities, assisted living facilities, and other areas with centralized aged populations. There, libraries can arrange sessions by appointment and have staff available to oversee it all. Another option would be to train a facilities employees and provide equipment on long-term loan.

Curating Content:

In a Music & Memory program, the library creates a playlist tailored to the recipient. In a virtual reality setting, we instead need to tailor experiences. Past vacation destinations and favorite public facilities like museums and art galleries are all widely accessible as a virtual reality experience. More often than not, these are also free. For patrons with impaired mobility, Google Earth VR is an incredibly versatile app that can take a person to nearly any destination from the comfort of their home! Whether using the aforementioned Steam account to oversee a library of content or providing a new form of VR advisory for patrons downloading their own apps, the library can and should stand ready to assist.

Too often, we fall into the trap of tying youth to technology. As our libraries continue to explore the possibilities of virtual reality, and emerging technologies more broadly, let us ensure that we do not forget our senior citizens!

References

^[1]Pilon, Mary. “For Senior Citizens, the Future of VR Lies in the Past.” Wired. June 02, 2017. Accessed July 11, 2017. https://www.wired.com/2017/04/vr-for-seniors/.

^[2] Ibid

^[3] “Brain-Music Connection.” Music and Memory. Accessed July 11, 2017. https://musicandmemory.org/about/brain-music-connection/.

^[4] Wolpert, Stuart. “Brain’s reaction to virtual reality should prompt further study, suggests new research by UCLA neuroscientists.” UCLA Newsroom. November 24, 2014. Accessed July 11, 2017. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/brains-reaction-to-virtual-reality-should-prompt-further-study-suggests-new-research-by-ucla-neuroscientists.

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Other libraries across the country have also successfully developed exercise classes for older adults. In Oklahoma, many public libraries have developed Tai Chi programs in collaboration with the Oklahoma Healthy Aging Initiative. The Stillwater, Oklahoma, Public Library’s Tai Chi class proved to be so popular that the library decided to send several of its staff members to receive Tai Chi training through the Oklahoma State Department of Health so that the classes could become regular programs offered on an ongoing basis at the library. Other libraries have organized dance classes, walking groups, and exercise-based fall prevention programs.

In some cases, such as the Brooklyn Xbox bowling league, the programs are specifically for older adults. In other cases, older adults actively participate alongside other age groups. For instance, in Parry Sound, Ontario, a 92-year old woman joined a library yoga class in May 2016, and has since been an active participant in the weekly, all-ages gentle yoga class. In China Grove, North Carolina, an older couple in their 70s who participated in a library program focused on learning how to run were so inspired that they successfully completed their first 5K that year.

These examples show that there are many things libraries can do to have a positive impact on the lives of senior citizens through programs that feature physical activity. Nick Higgins, director of outreach at Brooklyn Public Library, told NPR:

“A good library reflects the needs of its particular community. Our older adult community … is looking for opportunities other than movie night, something active and social. And the public library is a perfect space for that to happen.” [1]

Your library may not start a bowling league for older adults, but there are lots of other things you could try to create opportunities for senior citizens to exercise and have fun together at the library.

References

[1] http://www.npr.org/2017/07/04/534431175/xbox-bowling-for-seniors-visit-your-local-library

Resources

https://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/calendar/library-lanes-bowling-homecrest-library-071817

http://www.altustimes.com/features/community/5780/tai-chi-classes-a-success / http://swoknews.com/health/free-tai-chi-classes-available-library-and-ccl

http://stillwaterliving.com/tai-chi-at-the-stillwater-public-library/

http://www.programminglibrarian.org/articles/creative-aging-our-communities-public-library-project

http://www.programminglibrarian.org/programs/wise-walk

http://kdla.ky.gov/librarians/programs/summerreading/Documents/FallsPrevention.pdf

https://www.parrysound.com/opinion-story/6559277-yoga-and-tea-at-the-library-thursdays/

The post Senior Fitness Programs at the Library first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

• Are they prepared in terms of collections, services, spaces, programs, staffing and communications?
• Do they have the visibility, identity, and partners necessary to connect with Boomers?
• Are they ready and able to allocate the resources necessary to respond to the age wave?

The traditional paradigm, equating senior services with sedentary and retired adults or homebound individuals, has been replaced by a healthier and more active 55+ population, one that is not restricted to a “one size fits all” description. Some Boomers are still in the workforce, while others are looking to engage in the same activities as their younger counterparts.

Diantha Dow Schull, principal of D.D. Schull Associates and author of 50+ Library Services: Innovation in Action (ALA Editions, 2013) emphasizes that “chronological age is less important than individual preferences and circumstances.”

In some communities, libraries are creating new relationships with older adults by re-branding themselves as lifelong learning centers as well as establishing themselves as vibrant community centers where older adults can engage in and interact with one another.

Many libraries have developed innovative and creative programs and approaches to working with these Boomers including:

• Next Chapter, @ New York Public Library: special programming, new classes, multiple partnerships, grant-funded projects, a blog, and a Facebook page.

• Senior Moments blog (http://www.bklynlibrary.org/blog/senior-moments ), Brooklyn Public Library’s blog that showcases unique programs for Boomers, such as Xbox gaming classes, poetry readings and computer training at the library.Book to Action (PDF), Multnomah County (Oreg.): book-discussion model where participants read a text concerning a particular social issue, such as local farming or domestic abuse, and then visit a local nonprofit working on that issue to help with a service project or community event.

• The Creative Aging Public Libraries Project, a program developed by Lifetime Arts in a partnership with the Westchester (N.Y.) Library System: an arts education program for older adults.

• Connect Care, Queens Public Library: educational health programs and free health screenings at eight Queens library branches in partnership with Albert Einstein Medical Center.

Still, many libraries lag behind; some continue to offer limited “senior” services. Schull says that large-print books, weekly movie programs, and outreach to senior centers or nursing homes are important and certainly merit attention in order to meet the needs of the frail and isolated elderly.

However, Schull emphasizes that libraries need to acknowledge the demographic changes taking place across the country and the potential for libraries to become community centers for the many independent, active, engaged older adults who are redefining aging in America.

The ALA Office of Literacy and Outreach (OLOS) Toolkit, Keys to Engaging Older Adults @ your library: Libraries can empower older adults with engaging programs and services, offers suggestions for programming, key terms, links to resources and partner agencies as well as funding resources and tools for writing a successful grant. It is an invaluable resource for library systems that want to improve or develop a program that keeps pace with the changing face of the Baby Boomer population.

The Baby Boom population has changed the world many times in the last 70 or so years: a 1950s population boom, the advent of Rock and Roll, as well as a Civil Rights and War protest that changed the face of history.

Now, they are demanding changes in library services.

James Welbourne, City Librarian Director at the New Haven, Connecticut Free Public Library, describes the challenges that libraries have in meeting these demands: “There is a new language addressing this population and it is not “senior.” It is about being mature adult, the third age, the next challenge, productive aging, and much more…We have a lot of ground to cover.”

Whatever word we eventually choose, there is no debate—library services for individuals 55+ need to be re-defined in new and creative ways.

*Blogger, Marybeth Zeman, writes from firsthand experience—a “Baby Boomer”, born in the 1950s, she returned to get her MLIS at St. John’s University in 2009 and is presently pursuing a second career in library science. She intends on providing library services as well as receiving them.

Works Cited

[1] Baby Boomer Generation Fast Facts. (2013, November 6). CNN. US. Retrieved August 18, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/us/baby-boomer-generation-fast-facts/

[2] Schull, D. (2013). 50+ Library Services: Innovation in Action. Chicago: ALA Editions.

[3] Outreach and Diversity. (n.d.). American Library Report 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014, from http://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2014/diversity

[4] Ibid

The post Baby Boomers Aren’t Called “Seniors” Anymore – Next Level Programming for Older Adults first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

My library system (Palm Beach County Library System) has two programs scheduled for September called Be Scam Smart. Tasha Carter, Director of the Division of Consumer Services under the Florida Department of Financial Services, will be leading an informative workshop for seniors, their families, and caregivers. The 90-minute workshop is part of Operation S.A.F.E. (Stop Adult Financial Exploitation) and will cover how to spot a scam, outsmart the scam artists, avoid identity theft, and more. Libraries are a valuable resource for patrons on many topics, and assisting senior citizens with keeping their finances and identity safe, is another opportunity for libraries to step up in our communities.

I encourage you to visit the FTC website and order their free folder with six articles and six bookmarks that you can display at your library. The materials are available in English and Spanish. It is possible to order more as needed. Maybe you do not have the time or resources to conduct a program, but you can link your library website (or blog) to the informational video that is also on their page. If your library has conducted a similar program, or you plan to conduct one, please reply in the comments section below with anything you feel is valuable to report to other library professionals. I believe we can all agree that it is unfortunate that rip-off artists exist, but it would also be unfortunate not to take advantage of these free resources to educate our local citizens.

The post Pass It On at Libraries to Help Seniors Avoid Scams first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

The Issue

In Western countries, the older a person is, the less likely it is that he or she uses technologies such as mobile phones and computers.² According to the PEW Internet & American Life Project, only 53 percent of Americans age 65 or older (hereafter referred to as “seniors”) use the Internet, compared to 87 percent of all American adults.³ Among seniors older than 75, this number drops to 34 percent. Of those seniors who use the web, 70 percent do so on a typical day. This shows that “[o]nce they are given the tools and training needed to start using the Internet, [seniors] become fervent users of the technology.”⁴ However, this is only possible for seniors with access to appropriate tools and training. Training in particular can be an issue; a 2010 study showed that 68 percent of seniors above the age of 75 felt that they would need help before they could start using the Internet.⁵

With the rise of e-books in both society and libraries, it is also important to look at seniors’ use of e-readers. The numbers here are lower than those for Internet use: 11 percent of all seniors and 5 percent of seniors over 75 have e-readers, compared to 18 percent of all American adults. Tablet ownership is even lower: only 8 percent of seniors overall and 3 percent of seniors over 75 have tablets,
compared to 18 percent of all American adults.⁶

The Reasons

Why are so many seniors infrequent technology users? A look at the recent research can provide some answers to this difficult question. Researchers in the United Kingdom conducted discussion groups during a nine-month computer training program to learn why seniors felt they experienced problems with computers. They found seven reasons why seniors felt they had trouble learning how to use a computer:

1. alienation from the new technologies;
2. a lack of expertise with technology from previous experiences;
3. feeling pressured to learn it rather than wanting to themselves;
4. fear of doing something wrong and having bad consequences;
5. feeling too old because “[by] the time I will really know the computer I will be too old to bother with it”;
6. being too busy; and
7. not having a use for it.⁷

These findings are consistent with other research on the topic. A 2001 study found that seniors expressed very similar challenges towards technology, including:

1. overcoming fear;
2. remembering what to do;
3. difficulty understanding terminology;
4. anxiety caused by having to find documents, files, and programs that have disappeared;
5. learning how to get to the items they need; and
6. keeping up with new technology.⁸

A 2010 article found that computer terms and acronyms are harder for seniors to relate to than for younger people, which could be another reason why seniors may feel they are too old to learn such technology.⁹ Studies cited in a 2009 article by Ruth Abbey and Sarah Hyde show that many seniors do not find the Internet relevant to their lives because they’ve lived so long without it.¹⁰ Another study cited by Abbey and Hyde shows that some seniors are concerned about a lack of privacy on the Internet, which is another aspect of anxiety or fear as previously described.¹¹

Abbey and Hyde themselves studied the use of mobile phones and email by politically active seniors, resulting in findings about their abilities and attitudes. The study found that twenty-four of the twenty-six respondents used email, and that both of those who abstained from using email for their political activities did so because they felt they didn’t have the required skills. Since they did use email for other communication, this indicates a lack of skill with navigating the Internet or using electronic mailing lists. Another respondent indicated that he had trouble sorting through all the information available to form a cohesive and accurate whole.¹²

The Survey

In light of so many U.S. seniors’ limited use of digital technologies, we decided to look into the kinds of digital resources and services that U.S. public libraries offer and to study how public libraries aid seniors in learning how to use new technologies. We created an online survey to learn about librarians’ perspectives on the technology needs of seniors and the services they are providing. We conducted the survey using the web-based survey platform Qualtrics and recruited respondents through eight library electronic mailing lists. The survey was active between January 16 and February 18, 2013, and yielded sixty-six complete responses. Respondents came from all across North America and served populations which ranged from less than 10,000 to more than 500,000, with the largest number of respondents serving smaller to middle-sized communities (see table 1).

The librarians who participated in the survey indicated extensive use of the Internet in their libraries. Ninety-eight percent reported that their libraries have a website, 92 percent said that they have accounts on social-networking sites, and 41 percent indicated that they have reviews from Goodreads or LibraryThing incorporated into their OPACs. While not asked specifically about digital databases, fourteen respondents (21 percent) volunteered that their libraries also offer subscription databases. It is likely that the number of libraries which offer this service is much larger.

E-books are also a large part of today’s libraries, as indicated by our survey. Ninety-five percent of respondents indicated that their libraries offer e-books to patrons, and 45 percent also loan e-readers. In addition, 72 percent of librarians surveyed expect funding for electronic materials to increase in the near future, and 26 percent expect funding for print materials to decrease (see figures 1-3). While only 11 percent of respondents predicted a decrease in funding for large print (while 16 percent expected an increase in funding), the ability of e-readers to turn any book into a large print book will expand the selection of available books for seniors and other patrons with vision difficulties if the patrons know how to use the technology.

However, funding shortages are keeping many librarians from being able to fulfill community demand for e-books. As one Nevada librarian wrote: “We just don’t have enough funding to put into purchasing e-books, so we have a large wait list for the ones we do have.”

Technology Training in the Library

Our survey also asked respondents about their senior patrons’ technology needs, and about the types of formal and informal instruction they provide. Thirty-six (55 percent) of the librarians in our survey indicated that their libraries offer computer classes. Of these, 53 percent offer classes in computer basics, 47 percent offer classes in Internet basics, and 44 percent offer classes in Microsoft Office. Other classes include social media (25 percent), digital photos (8 percent), genealogy (8 percent), and job hunting (11 percent). Only 8 percent of libraries offered classes in using electronic databases. Some libraries offer an extensive range of classes, such as a New Jersey library offering classes in “startup with the Internet, Google Search Tips, Websites for Book Lovers, iPad & Android Apps, Word, Excel, Facebook, Uploading & Editing Photos, email, downloading e-books, and more.” Forty-one percent of libraries surveyed also offer e-reader training, 59 percent of which is conducted via classes.

Some libraries offer specific classes for seniors, while others welcome seniors in their general computer classes. Of the librarians we surveyed, 33 percent indicated that their libraries offer computer classes specifically for seniors. Of the other 66 percent who do not have senior-specific classes, 36 percent of the classes are attended mostly by seniors. As one librarian wrote, “[Although our classes] and tutoring are offered to all, it works out that virtually all the sessions we do are with library users age 55+, as that age group more frequently ask for assistance in these areas.” Five libraries also conduct computer training at local senior centers. For instance, one Alabama librarian wrote that her library “offered basic computing, one-on-one peer training sessions in conjunction with a local senior center as part of a grant project. At the end of the grant project, we were unable to continue running the sessions, but branched out with other senior organizations in the area to serve specific populations with targeted training sessions most requested by members of the organization.”

Computer classes are not the only way libraries help their patrons learn how to use technology. Twenty-seven percent of librarians surveyed indicated that their libraries offer one-on-one technology training appointments and 9 percent indicated that they offer drop-in sessions. For example, an Ohio library offers “walk-in help with e-book readers, tablets, and other such devices. Customers can make an appointment for hour-long individual help sessions. We [also] have e-book readers, tablets, and other such devices for staff so that we can hone our skills to best help our customers.” In Michigan, another library invites “National Honor Society members [to] come in to get service hours by giving one-on-one assistance, which we tend to gear towards seniors.”

Another popular tech-training program was the “technology sandbox,” in which the library provides seniors with a range of sample devices to try out and to practice using. A library in New York “sets out the most popular devices (Kindles, Nooks, iPads) so that patrons can test them and get a feel for how they work. We offer as sistance with the use of the device, including how to check out library e-books and transfer them to the device.”

A common theme among survey respondents was the importance of offering entry-level instruction for seniors. A librarian in Alabama expressed that “[m]ostly, seniors in our area are interested in learning to use computers to access online social services and communicate with family members.” Another librarian from Mississippi explained how her library caters towards the needs of these seniors: “Most other classes offered in our community begin at too advanced a level. Our class assumes nothing, and we have a 1:2 student-instructor ratio (largely filled through volunteers) to guarantee LOTS of individual help. [We offer] how-to-use classes for common devices, such as iPads, e-readers, and email.”

Barriers to Technology Training

Libraries that can offer services such as those at the Mississippi library mentioned in the previous paragraph are few and far between. Librarians in our survey indicated that they wish they could offer more technology training to their patrons, but they face many barriers. The most frequently identified barriers involved limited staff time and knowledge, as 33 percent of librarians surveyed indicated this as an issue. For example, a Connecticut librarian explained that “We don’t have enough staff time to provide around-the-clock intensive e-book help. Whenever we have an open drop-in session, we are swamped.” Even in libraries which employ a larger number of people, limited technology knowledge amongst staff is a barrier to instruction. A California librarian wrote that “some of our librarians are just as fearful of new technology as our patrons. Lack of training for staff members, and lack of desire to learn, are major barriers.”

Library space and available technology to use for training was also identified as a problem for 11 percent of our survey population. A large library in New York, for example, “just expanded our Cyber Center to triple its former size, and it still doesn’t seem to be enough to meet the demand.” Similarly, at a mid-sized library in California, “It would be useful to have a quiet area for training. Many training sessions take place in the library itself, which does not allow for normal/loud speaking (especially for seniors who are hearing impaired).”

Twenty percent of librarians specifically indicated that money was a barrier to offering technology training for patrons. With more money in the budget, librarians would be able to hire more staff, train staff on technologies, and invest in more computers and spaces to use for training sessions. One funding source libraries might consider is grants. The Foundation Center offers a Foundation Directory Online (http://fconline.foundationcenter.org) which allows users to search for foundations which fund in particular areas, such as technology or libraries. While this is a subscription database, it can also be used for free at Cooperating Collections locations across the country (http://foundationcenter.org/fin).

In addition to grants, libraries can take advantage of local resources to assist in technology training. Several of the libraries surveyed indicated the use of volunteers as teachers in their technology classes, and this can be an excellent way to supplement staff instructors. Libraries can partner with local schools and colleges to set up a community service program. While volunteers will need to be trained in teaching methods, often these younger individuals will already have a foundation in how to use technologies and libraries can take advantage of this knowledge. Additionally, libraries can consider fundraising drives to support the purchase of additional technologies to use for training purposes.

Best Practices

Taken as a whole, the survey results indicate that these public libraries provide a range of technology resources and service for seniors, but there is more they could be doing to help reduce the age-based technology gap. We can learn from the existing research on technology instruction and other technology-related library services about best practices for helping seniors become more knowledgeable and more comfortable with digital technologies. Together, these studies show us that best practices for library technology instruction for seniors include:

1. Small class sizes. In a study done with patrons at two Australian libraries, researchers found that adult library users prefer learning about technology in small classes with a maximum of six students per class and a face-to-face teacher.¹³ Small class sizes offer teachers the opportunity to pay individual attention to each learner, which can alleviate the seniors’ anxieties about doing something wrong.

2. Guidelines and tip sheets.¹⁴ Providing written guides for seniors to take home helps them remember what to do, which helps alleviate the fear of forgetting what they’ve learned in class.

3. Post-instruction contacts. Once the class is over, senior library users would like to see individualized help for specific problems that they encounter and additional self-help aids made available, now that they know enough to be able to follow them.¹⁵ Having someone to contact with problems after the class is over helps the learners figure out what to do when layouts change and things they used to understand disappear.

4. Hands-on training. It is also important that classes take place in a space where seniors can interact with the technology they are learning to use. Research shows that people retain what they learn better when they are engaged with their learning—or in other words, “doing something” rather than passively listening to someone lecture or viewing a PowerPoint.¹⁶ Being able to use the tools during instruction is especially important when working with technology.

5. Social/emotional support. Collaborative, hands-on training fosters a supportive learning environment where seniors can struggle with the technology and observe others struggling with it, which creates an understanding that they are not alone. The encouragement they receive from both their fellow learners and their teachers helps relieve anxieties.¹⁷ Patience, encouragement, and respect from the teacher also help with this.¹⁸

6. Individualized attention. Even if teachers are well-versed in the issues that seniors face when it comes to technology, they need to make sure to engage with the individual learners. Asking learners to describe their previous experiences and encouraging them to mention any problems they have with the material will help teachers tailor instruction to meet each particular class’s needs.¹⁹ In addition, understanding the learner’s self-perceptions and prior skills allows the teacher to aid learners in building upon this experience, boosting selfconfidence with early successes.²⁰

We should note that the current research focuses on teaching computer skills, not other technological skills. Cassell, Bamdas, and Bryan also suggest e-book clinics facilitated by library staff which use both visual and hands-on demonstrations to teach patrons how to download e-books and use the library software on their devices, but they do not describe them further.²¹ While we lack e-reader–specific research, many of the strategies discussed here can also be used for teaching seniors about how to use e-books and e-readers and help move seniors more smoothly into the digital world.

REFERENCES

1. United States Census Bureau, “ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates,” American FactFinder, accessed Apr. 17, 2013.
2. Ruth Abbey and Sarah Hyde, “No Country for Older People? Age and the Digital Divide,” Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society 7, no. 4 (2009): 226.
3. Kathryn Zickuhr and Mary Madden, “Older Adults and Internet Use,” Pew Internet & American Life Project (June 2012), accessed Apr. 17, 2013.
4. Ibid., 5.
5. Ibid., 6.
6. Zickuhr and Madden, “Older Adults and Internet Use.”
7. Phil Turner, Susan Turner, and Guy Van De Walle, “How Older People Account for Their Experiences with Interactive Technology,” Behaviour & Information Technology 26, no. 4 (2007): 291-93.
8. Dale Gietzelt, “Computer and Internet Use Among a Group of Sydney Seniors: a Pilot Study,” Australian Academic & Research Libraries 32, no. 2 (2001): 142.
9. Emy Nelson Decker, “Baby Boomers and the United States Public Library System,” Library Hi Tech 28, no. 4 (2010): 614.
10. Abbey and Hyde, “No Country for Older People?” 233.
11. Ibid., 229.
12. Ibid.
13. Joan Ruthven, “Training Needs and Preferences of Adult Public Library Clients in the Use of Online Resources,” The Australian Library Journal 59, no. 3 (2010): 113.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Decker,”Baby Boomers and the United States Public Library System,” 612.
17. Mary A. Cassell, Jo Ann M. Bamdas, and Valerie C. Bryan, “ReVisioning the Public Library as an Oasis of Learning,” International Journal of Adult Vocational Education and Technology 3, no. 2 (2012): 13.
18. Ibid., 16.
19. Ibid.
20. Turner, Turner and Van De Walle, “How Older People Account for Their Experiences with Interactive Technology,” 295.
21. Cassell, Bamdas, and Bryan, “ReVisioning the Public Library as an Oasis of Learning,” 19.

The post Reaching Senior Patrons in the Digitized Library first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

As of 2011, a whopping one-quarter of the U.S. population is aged 55 or older.¹ Despite the fact that the people who span different generations have varying life experiences, cultural references, and exposure to educational opportunities, they all share the same very human needs: to create, convene, learn, and express themselves. The arts are the perfect lens through which older adults may explore life and share their personal experiences with others.

The fact that the older adult population is growing heralds an exciting opportunity for libraries to reimagine programming for this healthier generation who seek active engagement in a social environment. Libraries, the most universal and most democratic of America’s cultural institutions, are “age neutral” and so appeal to older adults who are reluctant to go to senior centers. Increasingly important as community centers for learning and cultural access, libraries are ideally positioned to evolve as centers for creative aging.

Creative Aging Programs

The emerging field of creative aging focuses on the powerful and beneficial role of the arts in improving the quality of life for older adults. Creative aging programs—arts education for older adults—offer sequential instruction in all disciplines (visual, performing, and literary arts) with goals of skills mastery and social engagement.

Now in its fifth year, the Creative Aging Public Libraries Project is a demonstration and capacity-building program that supports collaborations between professional teaching artists and public libraries resulting in free instructional arts programs for older adults. The program has been developed by Lifetime Arts, a national nonprofit organization based in New York, in partnership with eight major library systems in four states. To build the capacity of libraries to initiate, develop, and sustain creative aging programming, Lifetime Arts provides incentive grants to select library system partners and employs a replicable program model and approach that includes professional development, ongoing technical assistance, and access to resources for participating librarians, library administrators, artists, and other partners.

The work is based on a vision for mobilizing the trusted, familiar, information-rich public space of the library to deliver arts education for older adults. That vision includes building effective collaborations between teaching artists and librarians and building the capacity of different library systems to carry out and sustain creative aging programs.

Teaching artists and librarians find that they share a vision for positive aging and bring complementary strengths to designing and implementing meaningful programs for older adults. One obvious advantage to holding creative aging programs in public libraries is the opportunity for participants to use the library to explore their medium or topic further.

In partnership with the American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Programs Office (PPO), the Creative Aging Libraries Project program model and resources will be disseminated nationally through an online Creative Aging Toolkit for Public Libraries (available in June 2013). Lifetime Arts is currently developing an affiliate network that will offer training, resources, and access to a national network of creative aging practitioners.

This nationally recognized program is funded with generous grants from the Institute for Museum and Library Services, AARP Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Helen Andrus Benedict Foundation, Laura Jane Musser Trust, MetLife Foundation, and New York State Council on the Arts. Current participating library systems include Boston Public Library; Brooklyn Public Library; Clinton Essex Franklin Library System, headquartered in Plattsburgh, New York; Dallas Public Library; Miami-Dade (Fl.) Public Library System; New York Public Library; and Westchester (N.Y.) Library System.

PPO is supporting the dissemination of the program through Programming Librarian.org and with a preconference workshop and general session at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference.

If Not Now, When?

When Lifetime Arts cofounder and President/CEO Maura O’Malley was caring for her own aging mother, she was struck by the lack of inclusive, participatory arts programs available to this population, who needed something engaging and productive to do with their time. “The assisted living facility where my mother was living offered residents a poetry program, but the poster advertising it stressed that it was ‘not for people who hadn’t written poetry before’ and specifically uninvited people who wanted to learn how to write poetry,” she said. “How frustrating is that?”² Moreover, after thirty years in arts education, O’Malley instinctively knew that making art is good for everyone and could be especially good for older adults. She would soon learn that there was research to back up her thinking.

In 2006, Gene Cohen, working out of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University, published “The Creativity and Aging Study: The Impact of Professionally Conducted Cultural Programs on Older Adults.” The goal of this landmark study for which the National Endowment for the Arts was lead sponsor, was “to evaluate the effects relevant to general health, mental health, overall functioning, and sense of wellbeing in older persons caused by active participation in cultural programs provided by professional artists involved in visual and literary arts, music, and other cultural domains.”³

Cohen’s study found that for those older adults who participated in long-term, culturally enriching programs,

• overall health improved and stabilized;
• fewer doctor visits were required;
• less medication was necessary;
• fewer suffered from falling down and physical instability;
• feelings of morale increased while symptoms of depression decreased; and
• social and other activity increased, in some cases significantly.

That settled it for O’Malley. Following lengthy conversations over several months with Ed Friedman, longtime deputy director for the Bronx Council on the Arts with whom O’Malley was serving on a committee, the two veteran arts administrators realized that there was an enormous opportunity for libraries and other community organizations to use arts education programming to drastically improve the lives of older adults.

O’Malley quit her job at a major New York City arts education organization, she and Friedman cofounded Lifetime Arts in 2008, and they positioned it as a service organization to help build an infrastructure for the emerging field of creative aging. Friedman eventually retired from the arts council and started his full-time “encore” career at age 60. He serves as Lifetime Arts’ executive director.

Running the organization out of a spare room in O’Malley’s family home until November 2011, Lifetime Arts quickly attracted partners like the Westchester Library System and the New York Public Library. Through support from generous funders interested in supporting the arts and the use of programming in public libraries to combat isolation in older adults, Lifetime Arts has developed and implemented training institutes, tested and evaluated program service models, launched a creative aging roster of vetted teaching artists, and re-granted more than $375,000 to seven library systems in four states.

What Happens During Library-Based Creative Aging Programs?

Workshop series (usually a minimum of eight sessions, two hours each) are guided by professional teaching artists and allow for in-depth arts learning (mastery). Participants build skills, explore new materials, and learn a variety of art-making techniques. They share their learning with each other through facilitated, modeled conversation (social engagement). On average, registration for each series ranges from ten to twenty, depending on the discipline and space. Choruses often exceed forty participants.

Teaching artists create a safe, risk-free environment where experimentation and engagement is encouraged. Importantly, creative aging library programs foster new relationships between older adults and the larger community. They succeed in breaking down the chronic isolation and passive existence of many older adults as they unlock expressive abilities.

At each library, a culminating event—free and open to the public—celebrates the achievements of each participant and provides confirmation of the value of their work. Event attendees find encouragement and inspiration in the celebration of their peers’ accomplishments.

Librarians promote the workshop series locally and recruit participants. Partnering librarians and artists work together to identify library materials and resources to enhance the instruction, and librarians help patrons access those materials, further strengthening the bond between patron and library.

How It Works

The first step in planning any creative aging program in your library is to find out about the older population of your community and how it uses the library currently. Perhaps you have surveyed the population already to learn about their interests. If you haven’t asked your older adult patrons about their interests, do. You’ll be surprised! It is also a great idea to get to know which organizations in your community are offering arts education programs and which are already serving the 55+ population.

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you to determine what type of creative aging programming at your library makes sense for your community and whether there are partnerships that can be struck to take advantage of momentum and funding already in play.

In addition to the in-kind staff cost of running a public library program, an average eight-session creative aging workshop costs between $1,800 and $3,500. Teaching artist fees for instruction range between $35 and $150 per hour, and their planning and prep time ranges between $25 and $50 per hour. Art materials and supplies for participants (depending on the discipline) range between $10 and $35 per person.

Current Creative Aging Libraries Project participants are funded through restricted grants to serve particular library systems. Library Friends groups, local businesses, partnerships with arts organizations, library programming budgets, bequests, and foundation grants are all sources for program support.

Determine if there is adequate and appropriate space available in your library for arts instruction in the disciplines that you would like to offer. For example, wet media require a nearby water source. Similarly, if you are partnering with a senior center or other community space to offer a creative aging workshop series, determine whether they have the right kind of space, and be careful about the scheduling so that the classes don’t conflict with other regularly scheduled events (like meals). While your teaching artist partner is facilitating the program, the library coordinator will need to allocate time to provide administrative support.

Creative aging programs are defined as sequential learning (usually eight to twelve sessions) in a particular arts discipline led by qualified teaching artists. The artist develops and teaches a curriculum that will build skills mastery and foster social interaction. Teaching artists should focus on developing the skills of participants so that they can create original, expressive artwork. This includes learning how to use art-making materials and tools and experimenting with various forms and techniques. A skilled teaching artist builds opportunities for meaningful social engagement into each workshop session. While drop-in classes or even regular meetings (like knitting groups) in libraries are beneficial, they don’t necessarily
have the same impact as creative aging programs do.

Similarly, while librarians and local artists who show work at the library may forge lasting relationships, there is a big difference between an accomplished artist giving a successful talk on her own work and a teaching artist delivering sequential, skill-building art instruction. Sometimes
these are the same people, other times they are not. Local arts organizations are great resources for finding qualified teaching artists in your area.

Subscribe to the Lifetime Arts YouTube Channel to view videos of participants, teaching artists, and librarians. Follow @lifetimearts on Twitter and like us at Facebook.com/lifetimearts.

REFERENCES

1. “The Older Population in the United States: 2011,” United States Census Bureau, accessed Feb. 27, 2013.
2. Maura O’Malley, interview with the author, Feb. 15, 2013.
3. Gene D. Cohen et al., “The Impactof Professionally Conducted CulturalPrograms on the Physical Health, Mental Health, and Social Functioning of Older Adults,” The Gerontologist 48, no. 6 (2006): 726.

The post Lifetime Arts: Delivering Arts Education Programs for Today’s Older Adults first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

According to 2000 census data, 14.1 percent of Philadelphians were over age 65, second only to Miami out of 23 cities studied by the Brookings Institution in relation to aging populations.¹

Additional data indicated that this 14 percent is not only likely to grow but to be especially in need of library services. A report from the Philadelphia  Corporation for Aging (PCA) suggested that although our city’s overall population is projected to decline by 7 percent over the next 20 years, the 55-and-older group will grow by 11 percent during the same period. Currently, Philadelphia houses over 1.5 million people, with 24.5 percent living below the poverty level— nearly double the national rate of 13.3 percent—and the proportion of elders living in poverty is higher in Philadelphia than in Pennsylvania overall, 19 percent compared to 11 percent.² Obviously, the freely available services, programs, and resources provided by FLP for people of all ages and from all backgrounds are especially crucial for these disadvantaged groups.

In addition, the recent downshift in the economy has intensified the need of all ages, but especially disadvantaged groups, for library services. Since the economic downturn, large numbers of over-55ers are using the library for free computer workshops to prepare for prospective jobs, and also for checking out leisure materials.

Certainly, we anticipated that the library could offer a multitude of resources to over 65-ers for many reasons. From a historical perspective, it is an exciting time to grow older. Never before has it been possible for so many people to live so long and so well. Taking on new careers—and beginning new marriages— after age 55 have become commonplace and even expected options. Improvements in health and life expectancies have spurred a phase shift in public attitudes. Seniors are widely recognized as worthwhile contributors to our society and are increasingly in demand for paid and volunteer responsibilities. They are seasoned, dependable, and simply priceless. So this refreshingly enthusiastic group of new older people wants to know about nearly everything to prepare for the rest of their long and productive lives—and libraries can help them reach new peaks of achievement and make new beginnings.

Judging from increasing discussion about senior programming in the library literature as well as on conference agendas,3 library initiatives involving this expanding group of patrons are increasing nationwide. So as we venture onto new ground, we are pushing to learn from others’ experience as well as our own. We noticed that although countless libraries house children’s areas and a good many have teen nooks, apparently only a relative few have senior areas. However, because the FLP’s information and resources relevant to seniors have been dispersed throughout ten departments at the Parkway Central branch, we decided to implement a dedicated space for on-site senior activities as a priority.⁴ We recognized that we needed to make the library a more inviting place for older adults to visit, browse, and interact, so it seemed like a good plan to set up a dedicated point of focus.

Preparation and Funding

Central Senior Services (CSS) was visualized as a center specifically for older adults on the first floor of Parkway Central within the Government Publications Department. The area is located close to the barrier-free entrance to the building. Moreover, it is the location of Parkway Central’s access technology workstations (ATWs), work centers for the visually impaired that have been in place since the fall of 2000. We envisioned that the Government Publications staff would oversee CSS.

As plans for the center began to gel, we first sought funding via the Office of Commonwealth Libraries from the federal Library Services and Technology Act, and we received a grant for $26,500 to help support the new center. Secondly, we approached the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation, which awarded FLP a total of $143,621 over five years.

Gradually, the design took shape. Plans for the center came to include space for print and large print materials housed in attractive display units, computer stations dedicated to older adults, the ATWs, a conference area to allow semi-private information exchange, and comfortable seating. The grant funds were meant to cover a part-time dedicated librarian to supplement staff from Government Publications, magazines and large-print books displayed in the area, dedicated laptops, and the reconstruction needed to carve out a space originally within Government Publications. A design consultant was engaged to assist in working out these details.

Meanwhile, a marketing study was conducted of 160 seniors surveyed at local senior centers and housing facilities. More than half expressed interest in senior-focused events at Parkway Central, and most preferred them during the day. Topic choices ranged from a high of 48 percent for exercise and nutrition down to 15 percent for sports (see table 1).

The part-time librarian was selected from a pool of applicants. Besides the FLP system, Philadelphia is home to a number of academic and special libraries as well as the Drexel University iSchool, ensuring a broad range of experienced and talented possible candidates. Richard Levinson, the chosen individual, provides assistance to patrons in the center as well as serving as outreach coordinator for promotions and programming. As a result of working with a large base of Philadelphia institutions serving seniors and older adults, Levinson has developed an impressive network of supporters (see “Getting the Word Out” on page 48).

As the opening day for the facility grew closer, a fine collection of travel guides, large print fiction, and a selected mix of health, arts, and other leisure subjects— DVDs as well as books—took their places on the shelves. After some late stage fine-tuning in room configuration, the furniture, dividers, and workstations were delivered and installed with only two days to spare before the launch date. Meanwhile, Levinson had begun outreach for grand opening festivities as well as for future programming. Finally, CSS officially opened on August 26, 2009.

The Menu of Events

Right away a bit of spice got on the menu as part of the first quartet of programs through the new center. Fall Focus on Health included presentations about four facets of health and wellness that concern most people:

• Live to Be 100!
• Doctors Are from Mars . . . Communicating with Your Doctor
• Sexy at 60 or 70+
• What Every Hospital Patient Should Know: Surviving Your Hospital Stay

Attendance at this first round of presentations varied from 12 to 37 people, and the enthusiastic notes jotted down on the program evaluation cards convinced us that we were on the right track. “The best!” wrote someone attending the sexuality program. “Very interesting and informative,” commented another about the hospital program. “We can take control of our own care by asking the right questions.” A frequent visitor sent in a letter: “I have been impressed with the quality of the speakers and the care and attention each gave to his or her presentation . . . I want to thank you and the sponsors of this excellent new program.”

For a later presentation, My Life as an Actor, a veteran of the professional stage from the Philadelphia area talked about the joys and limitations of acting from a home base other than New York or the west coast. The following week, a vivacious teacher of improvisational acting conducted an interactive workshop to enhance enjoyable spontaneity in everyday life. Both programs drew high praise: “Excellent presentation”; “wonderful, wonderful, and wonderful”; “would like to see more improv.”

Throughout the winter, a series of visits was scheduled from an APPRISE counselor who assisted patrons personally with questions about Medigap plans and Medicare Part B enrollment. APPRISE is a free counseling service of the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, designed to help older Pennsylvanians with Medicare matters. Counselors are specially trained volunteers who can answer questions and provide objective, easy-to-understand information about Medicare, Medicare Supplemental Insurance, Medicaid, and long-term care insurance. Since some senior centers in the area are hosting “Medicare enrollment” workshops held by insurance company representatives, APPRISE sessions provide an unbiased and much needed corrective. In the same pragmatic spirit, a lawyer with Pennsylvania’s SeniorLAW Center attracted a good crowd to hear about consumer fraud.

The season of spring brings renewal, and so the theme for February/March workshops focused on New Beginnings for Seniors:

• Looking for Love after Age 50
• Starting a New Business
• Travel Bargains and Opportunities for Seniors
• Creating Your Own Memoirs

All told, some 14 programs were held, and feedback gathered from attendees has helped guide the planning for forthcoming events.

Sit, Savor, Surf

While the events aim to offer spice for every taste, the heart of CSS is the space itself with its collections, furniture, and equipment. Comfortable chairs for leisure reading are essential as well as laptops with databases and Internet connections, a special workstation for large-print reading, and a variety of books as well as newspapers and magazines in regular and large-print formats. One of the computers, part of the Access Technology program, offers Zoom Text and JAWS screen accessibility software. Zoom Text allows users to easily enlarge any part of the screen content, whereas JAWS enables the laptop to read selected sections of screen content aloud. Only a few steps from CSS, another Access Technology unit features a Braille reader/embosser (see  idebar). Statistics kept of CSS use show an average of about five user sessions per day on the equipment.

A valuable staff addition has been librarian Susan Golding, who came on board in September 2009. Seniors have appreciated her computer expertise, especially with the CSS laptops, and they call on her for help on providing “how to” answers to their technology questions. Her familiarity with government agencies and their workings has also been a big plus for our seniors. Over the first few months—roughly 100 days—that the center was open, CSS staff logged more than 900 reference questions on a variety of topics.

Finding useful information to answer visitors’ questions is made easier through dozens of links to senior-valuable Web resources, available via a dedicatedsection of the FLP’s website. Categories offered include paid employment, volunteer work, brain power, entertainment, creative expression, education, travel, and senior-focused. Librarians are always available to help with questions and concerns.

Getting the Word Out

Throughout the planning process and continuing forward into the full operation of CSS, Levinson has worked closely and persistently with dozens of Philadelphia organizations relevant to over-55ers’ concerns and services. One of the most valuable has been an informal partnership with the PCA, which has an extensive network of outlets and cooperating groups/individuals. Milestones, PCA’s online and print newsletter, has featured many articles about CSS.

To promote the center’s kickoff and grand opening event, Levinson delivered hundreds of postcards and bookmark-style announcements to a variety of apartment buildings, senior centers, and other locations in the area (FLP is fortuitously situated close to more than a dozen such organizations). Phone calls were made to activities directors in the senior centers to follow up on the invitation. In addition, FLP did a mailing to more than fifty senior centers within a ten-mile radius, and PCA announced the new center on its website. Levinson mailed press releases to the twenty-plus news weeklies in the area, and several articles resulted. Radio spots about the center ran on the public services station (WHYY) for three days prior to the opening. Promotional materials were also sent to the offices of all the members of the Philadelphia City Council.

To increase the audience for the numerous CSS events on an ongoing basis, FLP benefits from notices on PCA’s website and newsletter for getting the word out. For a more personal touch, Levinson “circuit rides” among the nearby retirement facilities, dropping off flyers and talking to in-house activity directors. Flyers are also left at selected supermarkets, business centers, and theaters. Moreover, upcoming programs and services are included in FLP’s monthly calendar and posted on www.freelibrary.org.

As part of “circuit-riding,” Levinson spoke at the Senior Citizens and Caregivers Expo held at Philadelphia’s African American Museum, distributed flyers, and chatted with attendees about CSS programs and services. A number of people made positive comments about FLP or told a personal story. Levinson also participated in an editorial focus group convened by Healthy Aging, a new magazine for Philadelphia-area seniors scheduled to launch in the fall of 2010. Currently, he is exploring informal partnerships with area pharmacies about displaying CSS flyers.

In finding speakers and facilitators for these events, CSS staff members have made contact with numerous other Philadelphia organizations, including:

• Drexel University School of Public Health
• Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
• League of Women Voters
• Mayor’s Commission on Services to the Aging
• Mayor’s Office of Community Services
• Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine
• Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
• Philadelphia Gray Panthers
• Theater Alliance of Greater Philadelphia
• United Way
• Wilma Theater

In working with these organizations, we look to identify current gaps in services to older adults so as to plan for the role that the library will have in addressing these needs in the future.

Reception

The CSS has already attracted a loyal group of regular users in addition to new patrons, who come in to use a computer in a supportive, unpressured  environment or to take advantage of the large-print materials via the comfortable seating. Reference interactions with our older adult users tend to be more intensive and lengthy than the average reference transactions.

For the grand opening in August 2009, the CSS welcomed some forty seniors to watch the ribboncutting ceremony, plus local reporters, as well as  representatives of our state legislature Senator Vincent Hughes and Darrell Clark of the Philadelphia City Council. Over the first five months of the center, 210 people attended programs. In the same period there have been more than 900 reference questions and more than 500 sessions on the laptops and other equipment. Some typical questions have concerned:

• Section 8 housing information needed by a homeless patron
• How to find English as a Second Language help for improving writing skills
• Locating computer training courses
• Finding organizations to assist job seekers
• Identifying a great public health speaker for a church-sponsored program
• For the local Social Security Administration: what publications the agency can use to reach seniors

One senior is taking a college course online but does not have a home computer. Naturally, she finds it very challenging to complete her assignments—not only because she has no computer but because use of computers elsewhere in the library system is time-limited. CSS computers do not have strict time limits. Said Levinson, “She was thrilled to have found us.”

So far, there have been no problems beyond occasional dozers and visits from younger people attracted by the comfortable chairs. Others can visit, but the computers are reserved for seniors.

Several out-of-state librarians paid a visit recently. “We don’t have anything like this,” commented an academic librarian from the Midwest, while a retired librarian from the South was impressed by such a “nice facility.” A legally blind regular comes nearly every day to watch television and videos on an Access Technology computer that allows screen enlargement. “I depend on you guys so much for entertainment and information,” he says. Every week several new faces appear to swell the ranks of the habitués who may stay to read or work, or shop for reading material to check out.

Central and Local

CSS builds from and draws on long experience at the branch level with older Philadelphia library patrons. Individual FLP branches have offered and continue to offer large-print books, Medicare workshops, caregiver support groups, tax assistance for retirees, special computer workshops including Generations Online—an elder-friendly software package designed to help seniors become computer savvy—horticulture workshops, tai chi, yoga, and line dancing as well as other programs.

For decades, librarians have serviced assisted living centers, senior centers, and adult daycare centers to provide our homebound patrons with library and community news, bestsellers, and the extremely popular adult story hours. To finally have a dedicated space and program series for seniors is truly a  milestone.

Conclusion: Pay It Forward

We expect that the early years of CSS will establish liaisons, patterns, and precedents that will carry forward as FLP undertakes the challenging project of renovating and expanding its historic Parkway Central headquarters building.⁴ As the expansion goes forward, CSS’s successes will serve to inform the staffing, services, physical space, programming, and resources facility so that the new Parkway Central provides a welcoming and highly useful destination for the region’s older adults. FLP views the current center as a first step towards expanding and improving services to this currently underserved group and is committed to incorporating the recommendations that result from the new facility into the expanded headquarters building, and possibly applying the model to other library locations.

Options for staffing a future CSS include training seniors and older adults to eventually take a volunteer role in implementing programs and assisting in the center. Certainly, the relationships with partner organizations developed or expanded during the current center will continue long after the grant period.

If we reawaken to the realization that aging can bring experience and excellence, we expect that CSS will get better and better over the coming years. We look forward to learning from our successes and setbacks as well as from other libraries that have established senior centers in their own communities.

References

1. Fact Sheet: Philadelphia City, Pennsylvania, Census 2000 Demographic Profile Highlights, American FactFinder, Washington: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000, www.census.gov (accessed Aug. 30, 2010).
2. Abby Spector and Jessica Stein Diamond, Looking Ahead: Philadelphia’s Aging Population in 2015 (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, 2006): 14, 57, http://www.pcacares.org/Files/2015_report.pdf (accessed Aug. 30, 2010).
3. Carrie Straka, “ALA Annual Conference: As Baby Boomers Age, It’s Getting More and More Important to Shape Library Services to Meet Their Needs,” Library Journal 134, no. 12 (July 15, 2009), www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6671137.html?q=Baby+Boomers (accessed Aug. 30, 2010); Bo Xie and Paul T. Jaeger, “Computer Training Programs for Older Adults at the Public Library,” Public Libraries Vol. 47, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 2008): 52–9; Kathy Mayo, “The Challenges and Opportunities of Serving America’s Elders,” presented at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference, July 9-15, 2009, Chicago.
4. See informative material and slide show about the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Parkway Central Expansion Project at http://libwww.freelibrary.org/expansion (accessed Aug. 30, 2010).

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