Library Services for Older Adults

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  • Are you looking at your customers and suddenly realizing you need to think about older adult services?
  • Do you find yourself directing older adults to Internet workstations then leaving them to struggle on their own because you lack the time to give them the assistance they need due to other demands?
  • Do you wonder what other needs your older population might have?
  • Do you want to engage your older adult customers and utilize the energy and interest of this special population, but wonder where to begin?

The older adult population’s needs are changing - even the name is new. We no longer view them as SENIORS. The Baby Boomers are retiring and want new services tailored to their needs.

Workshop Description: This all-day hands-on workshop will examine the characteristics of the older adult population and will teach you how to develop, market, and evaluate services tailored to the needs of this population group. You will learn how to form partnerships with other service agencies and how to harness the expertise of older adults themselves. Through individual and group exercises you will develop a service plan that reflects your older adult community. The instructor will provide sample plans, templates, cheat sheets, a webliography, as well as practical, useful tips that can be applied immediately. You will leave the workshop with the confidence to start a new older adult service and will take away concrete ideas to continue adding and increasing services to older adults.

Pre-workshop assignment: None.

Preliminary Course Outline

  • Overview of Library Services to Older Adults
    • Who is your target audience
    • Services with potential
    • Benefits and barriers of services
  • Planning and Developing Library Services
    • Planning the service
    • Using technology
    • Including Older Adults
    • Partnerships within your community
    • Funding
    • Think budget
  • Marketing the Service
    • Staff and community considerations
    • Marketing strategies
    • Advertising techniques
  • Evaluation and the Real Deal
    • Creating evaluation forms
    • Start a new service
    • Trouble shooting
    • Importance of the Journal

Who Should Attend: Anyone from the California library community with an interest in older adult Services is welcome. This course is for the individual with the enthusiasm and energy to start a new service to an exciting population.

Prerequisites: To be successful in this course, you should be comfortable and excited about new services to older adults.

Check-in: 8:30 to 9 AM Instruction: 9 AM to 4:30 PM

Available for contracting: 
No