In Virginia Beach, we have started a weekly program, Tuesdays @ Two, in the afternoon for older adults, though we’re letting people self-select to attend based on the time of day.  Attendance fluctuates with the weather, but this week has been warm and we had 19 people. 

I took the opportunity to experiment.  One inspiration was Gene Cohen’s The Creative Age, which is about much more than the arts but does talk about how his “Liberation Phase” inspires older artists.  I prepared to talk about artists who changed style or methods as they aged, especially how they dealt with disabilities, like Renoir who had rheumatoid arthritis. 

Another inspiration was the movie, In Winter Still, that I saw in the ALA exhibits last summer.  An excerpt is at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ahlWR23vWk This is a fictional story about Claude Monet.  The movie went over very well and so did my presentation.  We then proceeded to “paint” a mural with colored paper and glue sticks and everyone got really into it as you can see. 

painting with paper

Diantha Schull writes:

Lifelong Access Colleagues,

With the turn of the New Year, we are all focusing on the key roles that libraries can play in the lives of 50+ adults, especially in the context of increased longevity and worsened economic conditions.  A new study by the American Council on Education underscores the importance of post-secondary education opportunities for older adults.    This study may be helpful to you as you consider lifelong learning programs in 2009 at your library.   It may also be helpful in framing the issues for your conversations with Trustees, colleagues and community partners.

Best wishes for 2009!

The Institute continued with two speakers who discussed health-related topics.  For the slide presentations, head to the Institute website here.

First,  Dr. Margie E. Lachman, Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology & Lifespan Lab at Brandeis University, shared recent findings in the area of cognitive and physical changes as we age. As you could probably guess, she gave us both good news and bad news. Let’s get the bad news over with first– yes, aging does bring declines in both physical and cognitive health. Now, the good news– the declines can be minimized or even compensated for by increasing our protective factors. The factors which protect against physical declines are: getting a good education; having a high sense of control; reducing stress and anxiety; exercising regularly; receiving social support; not smoking; and maintaining a favorable waist to hip ratio. The factors which protect against cognitive decline are: getting a good education (even if you get it later in life); having a high sense of control; reducing stress and anxiety; exercising regularly; staying socially engaged; and engaging in cognitively stimulating activities. Dr. Lachman pointed out that it is never too early, and never too late, to develop these protective factors. And she passed on yet some more good news–psychological health, wisdom and problem-solving ability increase as we get older.  Dr. Lachman whetted our appetite for the classics by dropping a quote from Cicero–his advice to Cato on old age, p. 46: “resist old age. . .fight against it as we would fight against disease. . .much greater care is due to the mind and soul; for they too, like lamps, grow dim with time unless we keep them supplied with oil.”  How true.

Michelle Eberle, Consumer Health Information Coordinator for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM), New England Region, spoke next and began by reminding us any library which provides health information can become an NNLM affiliate, which makes a library eligible to apply for grants from the NNLM. She advised us to check out the NIH Senior Health site which is super user-friendly and has abundant accessibility features.

Carol Greenfield, President of Discovering What’s Next®, introduced us to the non-profit organization which she founded to change how we think about aging, while engaging mid-life and older adults in creatively exploring their next life stage. Lofty goals, but it’s easy to see how adroitly they’re accomplishing them. They use volunteers with talent, energy and ideas to lead workshops, meetups, a film and discussion club, a men’s group, and so much more.

Many of their activities take place at the Newton Free Library. Carol works with other library systems on programs related to this demographic. One project in particular is a multi-year grant to the Boston Public Library to develop and implement an investor education program called How Can I Afford Retirement? This project will be expanded to other libraries in Massachusetts as well in other states in the coming year through grants from the Investor Protection Trust .

The Institute drew to a close with Hagar Shirman giving us some great advice on moving from theory to practice with the “Access Skills Framework.” She provided a step-by-step guide to implementation including  guiding principles and a tool kit. Hagar reminded us that we have the information and tools that we need, and now a dynamic network of like-minded colleagues to go out there and show the world what libraries can do to make the lives of active older adults healthier, happier, and more meaningful.

What comes to your mind when you think: Retirement?

Well, retirement as we know it is passing away, since many who “retire” nowadays have 20, 30, or more years of active living ahead. How about this: “A new stage of life opening up between the end of midlife and the arrival of true old age.” It has a nice ring to it, no? Stephen Ristau gave us this new definition of work in later life, and used the term encore career to describe it.  Mr. Ristau wears many hats which gives him a multi-faceted perspective–besides  doing consulting work for public and nonprofit organizations  he is a trained marriage and family therapist, a parent educator, and a practicing spiritual director.  He discussed organizations such as Civic Ventures which provide information and support for those seeking a new meaningful opportunity in the latter half of their lives. Ristau also discussed findings of the MetLife/Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey survey.cfm and the Career Transition Service Leadership Feasibility Study

After lunch, the group was treated to another of the “Stories from the Field,” this time from Nancy Aberman from the Reading (MA) Public Library. They started by using grant funds from Libraries for the Future to train librarians to adapt traditional services, while adopting new services for active older adults. Collaboration with the nearby Burbank YMCA resulted in an information fair held at the library, Active Bodies, Active Minds, at which 20 local organizations exhibited. They branded Reading Library’s activities for the 55+ population Live Wires: Boomers and Beyond and adopted a jumper cable logo. Focus groups were formed and asked what they want–they said PROGRAMS. So, the library presents two programs each month: a morning program entitled Coffee and More with a variety of speakers and time for social interaction afterwards (and coffee, of course); and an evening program which could be a film showing followed by a facilitated discussion, or an author presentation or book discussion.  A few of the fascinating topics that have been covered in the morning sessions are: Legal Issues for Boomers and Beyond; The Harmonious Home (reduce clutter without stress); Decorating Tips; Oral History and Genealogy; Elderhostel; and Boston’s Ballparks and Arenas. Ms. Aberman ended with The Top Five Things to Remember about Providing Services to Older Adults: 5. Don’t call people over 50 “seniors”. 4. Do your homework and make no assumptions. 3. If you show them a good time, they’ll be back. 2. Food is good; free stuff is even better. 1. It’s not rocket science. They will be happy and you’ll be fine!

Robert Tietze, Executive Director of Philadelphia Experience Corps  spoke next about Intergenerational Programming: The Next Frontier. Experience Corps is a program, currently in 23 cities, that matches adults over 55 with elementary school students in need of help with reading. Studies and focus groups indicate that this program contributes significantly to students’ accomplishments and enhances quality of life for the volunteers. Tietze spoke about demographics of the older volunteer, and noted that today’s older Americans have better education and more financial resources than previous generations. Older volunteers already contribute more time to their community than other age cohorts, and the volunteer pool increases dramatically when people are directly asked to volunteer–an important lesson for librarians!

Be sure to take a look at the Lifelong Access Libraries Initiative website for all the powerpoints and lots more background and supporting information on the presentations.

We next stepped outside the library world to hear from Sharon Sokoloff, a professional gerontologist who directs the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Brandeis (BOLLI), one of 122 Lifelong Learning Institutes currently being funded by the Osher Institute. These provide non-credit educational programs on university and college campuses for adults over age 50. Retirement can provide people with the time they never had—to learn, or even teach, and the Institutes provide opportunities for both. Classes at BOLLI are peer-led by retired, semi-retired, or other adult volunteers, many of whom are experts in the field. Many people volunteer as they get older, but are often dissatisfied by the experience; teaching such classes, though, offers a highly rewarding volunteer opportunity and enables those teaching and leading study groups to continue learning as well. Prospective teachers submit a proposal for a class, which should be academic in nature.

Ms. Sokoloff considers public libraries excellent locations for lifelong learning opportunities. Lifelong learning gives a sense of meaning to life, helps establish connections with others and increases cognitive vitality Keep in mind the importance of a regular time each week, or month; lack of structure is one challenge when one retires; having something to do on a regular basis—e.g., every Tuesday morning—will give people something to structure the rest of their week around. She suggested an excellent resource for forming a study group for reflecting upon one’s life and looking within: the book, The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom by Angeles Arrien. She also recommended the writings of two men greatly respected in gerontological circles: Robert Butler and James Birren.

After a delicious and nutritious lunch, Doug Lord from the Connecticut State Library fed us a few new ideas. I suspect he’s also known as “the man with the money” because of his role in divvying up the state’s LSTA grant money. As someone far too young to be a boomer, he started with a riff on how to “take care of” our inordinately large generational cohort. I won’t go into detail, but it involved the release of large and hungry predators. . . Don’t worry, Doug, we know you were kidding! But keep this in mind if you’re over 50-ish and in the Hartford neighborhood.

Moving on, he urged us to try new things with a great image: cook the spaghetti, throw it on the wall, if it sticks, go with it. He inspired us by telling about the amazing 50+ Transition Center at the New Haven Free Public Library. They’ve got it all: a great space, with chairs and a nice view; a focused yet broad collection of  books and media, in both English and Spanish, arranged bookstore-style by subject; and activities for the body and mind such as tai chi, travel, re-careering and volunteering.

One of his slides showed tables—perhaps 50 of them of all shapes and sizes, with his exhortation to us: Be the table.! If we have felt happy to merely be at the table in the past, we should realize that we can be the table—the place where people in our community come to talk, learn and grow.

Shelley Quezada from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners followed, reinforcing our need to interact and connect with the community. She discussed a practical tool that she learned in preparation for doing staff training as part of WebJunction’s Spanish Language Outreach project—Community Leader interviews. Through your community network, find leaders in the 50+ community, and have them speak to your staff about the interests, needs and potential of this part of the population. She encouraged us to bring people together for social interaction, perhaps for a Conversation Circle or Talk Time.

On Tuesday we all made our way to the Newton Free Library to begin a full day of presentations. All of the powerpoints for the below presentations can be found on this page, toward the bottom.

After breakfast, Diantha Schull, who recently stepped down as President of Libraries For the Future (LFF) to devote herself more fully to LFF’s Lifelong Access initiative, kicked off the morning’s activities by giving us a portrait of today’s active older adults. She challenged us to examine our preconceptions and integrate some new ideas into our library services, especially those for “boomers,” those born between 1946 and 1964 who constitute the largest generation in U.S. history. (I’m guessing the term “baby boomers” isn’t used much these days, since most of us are over 50!)

She tied in the paradigm changes libraries must undergo to better serve the 50+ population and discussed the related changes happening nationwide in senior centers, higher education, volunteer agencies, and businesses of all types. Even if our libraries are full, we have to think about who in the community is not using them, and why not. . .

Diantha remarked that library schools would do well to teach classes on 50+ librarianship as they do for other age cohorts.

Diantha’s presentation demonstrated why we should—and must—re-think some of what we do at our libraries, showed us some ways others have done so and, perhaps most importantly, encouraged us to use creativity and imagination to develop needed programs and services for our unique communities.

Susan Irving, Manager of the St. Matthews-Eline branch of the Louisville (KY) Free Public Library, spoke next, treating us to the first of several “Stories from the Field” we would enjoy during the day. She began by laying out the path to changes they took: networking at a state “Elder Readiness Initiative,” observing patron trends, and analyzing community demographics. Then we heard about an amazing array of programs that have happened at the St. Matthews-Eline branch, covering such topics such as humor, hiking, retirement readiness, creativity, puzzle play, re-careering, and intergenerational communication. They even have a Senior Savvy Radio Broadcast!

How did they manage all this? Susan shared a few of the secrets of their success. First of all, she used some lessons she had learned in the Lifelong Access Institute in 2006: active older adults have acquired wisdom, which can become active wisdom if the library engages them in meaningful activities. During the planning process, the library sought out people with expertise to volunteer their time to speak at these programs. The library does not do the programming—they facilitate it. All of this has been done with no money spent by the library, and I have no doubt it has benefited the Louisville community greatly.

This past Monday and Tuesday, more than 40 librarians from throughout New England gathered for the New England Lifelong Access Libraries Institute in Newton, Massachusetts. Though I can’t claim to be a Connecticut Yankee, those from the Southern states do consider New Yorkers like me a Yankee, and I sometimes root for the Yankees. For whatever reason, they let me join the group and I’m very happy to share with you the things I learned at the Institute.

Oh, what exactly is it that’s growing in New England? It’s a growing excitement and collaborative spirit; an eagerness to learn from one another and support one another’s efforts among the New England librarians I met. Many of those present were library directors and high-level administrative staff and I’m sure they will be passing on the lessons to a mushrooming number of library staff members.

The conference, presented by Libraries for the Future (LFF) with funding from Atlantic Philanthropies, was largely a result of the efforts of Diantha Schull and Stephen Ristau of LFF, working in collaboration with the state library agencies of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont. Hagar Shirman, LFF’s Massachusetts Program Manager, handled the logistics and coordinated everything—kudos to her for the seamless flow of the Institute. Its purpose was to give librarians tools they could use to improve service to those aged 50 and over, while developing a core group who can band together and learn from one another’s efforts.

I chose the worst day of the year—the Sunday after Thanksgiving—to drive from New York City to Boston, and so was exceptionally happy to arrive and escape from the pouring rain to cozy quarters. The sun came out on Monday and I enjoyed walking part of the Irish Heritage Trail. One stop on the Trail was the Boston Public Library, a great repository of information on the local Irish community, so of course I stopped there to soak in the history and enjoy their wonderful architecture, artwork, and exhibitions. Then I found my way back to the welcoming Sheraton Hotel in downtown Newton to prepare for the first session.

That evening, we gathered in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, and as the participants introduced themselves, my awe grew at the impressive group assembled. These people have done so much already, and are eager to learn and do more. They care deeply. It made me glad to be part of the library community, and especially part of this group, albeit for a short while.

After a tasty repast and a welcome from Diantha Schull, National Director of LFF’s Lifelong Access Libraries initiative, we heard the keynote speaker, Mary Catherine Bateson on the topic of “Active Wisdom.” She spoke of the critical time in  history we’re living through: the very meaning of being human is undergoing an epochal change. Life expectancy in much of the world had been in the thirties in the past; now in the U.S., it’s in the high 70s. Many older people feel like they’re useless, even a burden—but there must be a reason why we, as a species, now live past the childbearing years. Ms. Bateson called to mind a New England winter scene, thick with snow, with a herd of deer searching for food. The old does in the group are the ones who will remember where to find it, from many years of experience! The presence of memory is one of the things that helps a group survive. Throughout history, memory has been part of why the old have been treasured by society. In traditional societies, the old aged into new, equally important, roles such as healer or fashioner of arrows. Today we have a wealth—not a problem—of older people, but we haven’t yet learned how to benefit from them.

Our country values independence, and the idea of being dependent is considered a nightmare. But we are all dependent. If we realize this, we will not fear dependence, either our own or other’s, and instead will focus on developing our interdependence in ways that we can all still feel effective, useful and creative.

To become wise, it’s not enough to just get old. Rather, you must learn throughout life, seeking out new experiences and reflecting on them. Many who are now older had participated in consciousness-raising groups in the 1960s and 1970s: they have long experience with change, growth and reflection. Libraries are neutral spaces where people can meet to have these same sorts of discussions, which lead to deep thinking. They can be places where facilitated discussions happen, so wisdom can keep growing, and be passed on.

Ms. Bateson ended her talk on a positive note. The subject of the hard economic times which have recently befallen us came up, and she reminded us that hard times may be just the thing that can teach us to be more interdependent.

LFF’s Lifelong Access Libraries Program Manager Diantha Schull writes:

I’ve been delighted and amazed by the creativity and energy of the Lifelong Access librarians I’ve had the chance to speak with recently, all of whom are eager to find new approaches to working with 50+ adults. These librarians are clearly ahead of the professional curve with their Advisory Councils, Partnerships, Community Conversations, and a variety of other programs.

Over the past several months I’ve led several programs on 50+ services, including one in Louisville, as part of the joint National Diversity/Kentucky Librarian Association Annual Conference, and another in Massachusetts as part of the Massachusetts Librarians Association Annual Conference. At each of these meetings I’ve had the opportunity to present with Lifelong Access Fellows and other librarians who have received training in the Lifelong Access Framework.   Nancy Aberman of the Reading Public Library and Kate Cosgrove of the New Haven Free Public Library spoke at the Massachusetts event; Susan Irving of the Louisville Free Public Library spoke at the Kentucky event.   All these presenters were great!  And they are doing great things in their libraries—one of my favorite series is the “Live Wires” program developed at the Reading Library in Massachusetts.

The most recent program I led was titled “Library Services for a New Age—Transforming Libraries into Centers for Boomer Learning and Community Participation,” a special program during the New York Library Association’s Annual Conference in Saratoga Springs. The event, on November 7, included my presentation  “50+ Services:  Challenges and Opportunities for Librarians,” followed by presentations from two Lifelong Access Libraries Fellows:  Brigid Cahalan, recently appointed  Older Adult Services Specialist for New York Public Library, and Mark Donnelly, Outreach Librarian, Special Services.

Brigid gave a wonderful presentation that summarized her most important take-aways from the Lifelong Access Libraries Institute in Chapel Hill and the ways in which she has applied these new concepts and practices at NYPL.  (See her “Next Chapter” post on this blog).   Brigid is a born speaker!  No wonder her work is getting so much traction at NYPL—she has spoken to retired librarians in the New York area, to directors and staff of all the branches, and at meetings of various city agencies considering ways to strengthen senior centers and other city services for older adults.   Mark Donnelly also captivated the audience with his descriptions of intergenerational oral history projects he is working on with a variety of schools and agencies in the borough of Queens.

The attendance at this program in Saratoga is an indication of the amount of interest across the library community in work with 50+ adults. We expected an audience of 30 or so, but 175 attended, with some standing and others sitting in the hallway outside the room.  Participants represented libraries all across New York State, from the North Country near the Canadian border to the Chattauqua area in Western New York, to Long Island and Staten Island and the Hudson Valley.   Whatever their size or type of service area, libraries across the Empire state are gearing up for the new generation of active older adults.

The next event will be the New England Lifelong Access Libraries Institute in Newton, Massachusetts, on December 1-2.   I am especially looking forward to the chance to hear three “Stories from the Field” along with brief reports on state-based initiatives to support active older adult services in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Stayed tuned . . .

2006 Lifelong Leadership Institute Fellow and new Tualatin Public Library Director, Abigail Elder, has made the news again. Congratulations and continue the great work, Abigail!

Based on the frequency of my blogging, you might think nothing pertinent to the Lifelong Access Leadership Institute that I attended in 2006 had happened in California…but that’s only because I’m not a very active blogger — we’ve actually been making great strides.

As you may know, based on the 2006 LFF institute I had attended, the California State Library, under the leadership of our State Librarian, Susan Hildreth, designed and launched our own statewide Transforming Life After 50: Public Libraries and Baby Boomers initiative in the summer of 2007. The purpose of our LSTA-funded initiative was to transfer much of what we had learned at the LFF institute to public libraries here in California and assist them in redefining, engaging, creating and delivering new and innovative services to our state’s growing population of active, older adults. A population, by the way, that is expected to grow more than twice as fast as California’s total population, increasing 112% from 1990 to 2020 (8.5 million people)! Our California initiative began with a webcast by national marketing expert, Matt Thornhill, and an invitation to libraries throughout the state from Susan Hildreth to apply to attend a intensive 3-day training later that fall.

Forty-four public library jurisdictions were selected and participated in the Transforming Life After 50 training institute in Pasadena, California in November 2007. The institute was made possible through a partnership between the California State Library, Libraries for the Future, and the California Library Association. Presentations were given by leaders from the fields of health, education, social science, spirituality and aging — including folks like Judy Goggin and Paul Nussbaum as well as other experts from California — sharing many of the concepts we had been introduced to at the LFF institute. The California institute also provided training in community assessment and the utilization of customized assessment tools that had been designed specifically for this project and its target population.

Following the training, participating libraries had the opportunity to undertake a community assessment of their own local boomer populations. Libraries were provided with technical assistance and up to $1,000 reimbursement for costs associated with this activity. Forty libraries commenced the local assessments and thirty were able to successfully complete their assessments in the time allotted (a little over 5 months). These thirty libraries were then eligible to submit a targeted grant proposal of up to $20,000 that would address the opportunities and needs thus identified by their local assessment.  Twenty-six libraries submitted proposals and 24 have now been awarded 2008/09 LSTA funding. (For a complete list of grant recipients go here.)

These targeted grants are intended to enable library jurisdictions to implement promising practices as well as test, refine and help disseminate models. An array of approaches will be undertaken by these funded libraries, including creating new physical and/or virtual spaces and outreach approaches; offering new programs that support specific knowledge, skills and interests of boomers; and forming partnerships that expand the library’s capacity to reach this significant population group.  The specific programs to be implemented range from the creation of a Volunteer Toolkit that will pilot new volunteer opportunities that more accurately reflect boomer interests; a Boomer Information Zone that will provide a dedicated space and resources for boomer networking and re-careering; to Taming Technology forums that will allow users to experiment with and evaluate new technologies.

We’ll keep you posted as these projects unfold and let you know what are the lessons learned, promising practices identified and new solutions discovered. We are also currently building a website where all this information and more will be posted.  We’ll be sure to share that URL just as soon as it is available.  Looking forward to hearing from others as we build and grow this community of lifelong access libraries together!

Suzanne Flint
Library Programs Consultant
California State Library
900 N Street, Suite 500
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-651-9796
sflint@library.ca.gov