Senior Services Today : A Practical Guide for Librarians

Senior citizens (frequently referred to by the more inclusive term “older adults”) are one of the largest and fastest growing demographics in the world. Public libraries have a duty to serve these individuals with the same level of care and opportunity for participation that is afforded to younger generations. This book explores older adults’ values and needs and describes the many ways libraries can serve them in effective ways.

Senior Services Today: A Practical Guide for Librarians is a comprehensive guide to library services for this important community. Chapters cover these critical areas:

• Engaging Older Adults in Library Programs and Services
• Understanding Demographic Differences
• Marketing to Older Adults: Strategies
• Programming Ideas for Older Adults in the Modern Age
• Enhancing Technology Accessibility for Older Adults
• Community Outreach: Serving Outside the Library
• Specialty Collections Items
• Continuing the Library’s Relationship with an Aging Population

While many times libraries tend to allocate budget and funding to flashier, brighter programs aimed at a more youthful audiences, this book shows how and why that same enthusiasm should be applied to crafting an engaging senior services plan. Gone are the conventional days of bingo and knitting circles; while those programs certainly have their place, this books aims to show that seniors also crave fun experiences alongside opportunities to make their own lives easier and more stress free-- and to illuminates how libraries can strike this balance by offering an enriching senior services roster.