Tips and tricks for teaching senior citizens how to use computers and technology to improve their lives.

RoseAleta Laurell has worked with seniors for over 6 years, teaching them everything from email to wikis to Facebook. She will share some of her ideas, inspirations and thoughts on working with senior citizens. Ms. Laurell is the director at the Ingleside Public Library, and has been chosen to participate in the IMLS Western Regional Fellowship: Transforming Life After 50.

With 17% of the Texas population 55 years old or older and over 20% in the US in the same age category, providing services for “Boomers” is a challenge for all libraries. Join us to learn how to best help your older patrons in learning and using new technologies!

October 12, 2010
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Online

For additional details and registration information visit: Technology Training for Seniors

Did you know that WebJunction CT has a special Services to Older Adults section with resources that can help you best serve your older adult patrons  – Baby Boomers too?

The discussion boards have multiple threads, including upcoming events, web sites of interest, programming resources, and articles of interest.

There are best practices articles in the documents section that can clue you in on how award-winning libraries like New Haven and Middletown’s Russell Library provide services to older adults. The documents section also has PowerPoint presentations of best practices.

There is also a link to the April, 2010 WebJunction webinar on best practices related to services to older adults with a special emphasis on the Baby Boom generation.

So check out the Older Adults & Seniors section. It’s free, you can easily set up RSS feeds to your blog reader and contribute to the message boards with ideas, questions, and best practices of your own.

The Hartford Public Library will use a $16,048 LSTA grant for Arts and Archives: Master Classes in the Arts and Humanities for Older Adults.

The project will provide fine arts and humanities workshops and heritage-based seminars. Seven planned modules will provide hands-on instruction in pen and ink drawing, visual arts, poetry writing, photography, appreciation of blues and jazz, sculpture, and memoir writing. Each module includes an artist- or scholar-led heritage-based seminar incorporating artifacts, images, and personal narratives from the collections of the Hartford History Center. Older adults will enjoy opportunities to discover (or re-discover) and express their creativity and develop artistic and critical thinking skills.

LSTA funding comes from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.

Come, listen, and participate in the May 18th, 2010 Services to Older Adults Roundtable. The focus is on Health Literacy and the location is the Middletown Library Service Center.

We’re fortunate to have guest speaker Michelle Eberle, Consumer Health Information Coordinator of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine New England Region. Michelle served on the Center for Disease Control’s Expert Panel on Health Literacy for Older Adults.

Susan Hansen and I heartily encourage reference staff to come AND we encourage librarians to bring their senior center directors whenever possible. Register on CLC’s page.

Also, in case you missed it, you can also find an archived version of my April 6 national webinar “Libraries Go Boom” through the root webjunction ct site.

Bonus prizes for any and all who post information or resources up on our message boards at WebJunction CT prior to the meeting.

See you at the meeting; start time is 9:30 for cofee and networking, and the meeting gets started at 10:00 AM.

Special Earth Day Event FREE webinar hosted by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning and Civic Ventures.

2:30 PM Wednesday April 21, 2010

The emerging green economy needs the talent and experience of the Baby Boomer generation to create jobs, cut carbon and save energy. Participate in the webinar to explore:

• Key roles where encore talent is needed now
• Current green jobs data and emerging encore career opportunities
• New strategies for workforce development and case studies of employers that are tapping encore talent
• Real-life stories from people who have made the transition

Register here; read CAEL’s report “How Boomers Can Help the Nation
Go Green: Emerging Encore Career Opportunities In the Green Economy” here.

The Boomers Are Coming! How to Serve Today’s “Senior Citizens”

On April 6, Douglas C. Lord, of the Connecticut State Library’s Division of Library Development and active WebJunction contributor, shared best practices related to services to older adults with a special emphasis on the Baby Boom generation. He discussed the characteristics and needs of Boomers, and shared ideas on how library programming can respond to those needs. We also looked at what the future holds as Boomers continue to age and the next generation enters seniority.

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