Libraries Interact » MJJ http://librariesinteract.info Blog central for Australasian Libraries Thu, 10 May 2012 03:46:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Older people and public libraries http://librariesinteract.info/2006/07/17/older-people-and-public-libraries/ http://librariesinteract.info/2006/07/17/older-people-and-public-libraries/#comments Mon, 17 Jul 2006 04:41:11 +0000 MJJ http://librariesinteract.info/2006/07/17/older-people-and-public-libraries/

Public libraries throughout Australia face an imminent ‘age wave’ as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age. Retirees and older people have traditionally been an important target market for public libraries [people over the age of 65 use libraries 5 times as often as the rest of us]. The impact of a greatly increased proportion of older people in local communities will be an important consideration in library planning, facility design, resourcing, marketing strategies, the development of strategic partnerships and staffing.

Some of these issues are considered in

Active, engaged, valued: Older people and NSW Public Libraries a publication I’ve been working on that is now available via the State Library website at:

http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/pls/publications/pdf/active_engaged_valued.pdf

Are there any research projects, blogs, etc. looking at the issues? Does anyone have a perspective on ‘future proofing’ public libraries in Australia?

]]> http://librariesinteract.info/2006/07/17/older-people-and-public-libraries/feed/ 4