Notes

Public Libraries - Community-Based Health Clubs For the mind and Mind?
Public libraries moved beyond just offering books long ago, but only now are demographic and scientific trends converging to sustain a far more fundamental transformation within their role. A role in which they explicitly help promote cognitive health locally, and potentially use Brain Fitness as a fresh framework to unify an array of lifelong learning, civic engagement, gaming, and health promotion initiatives.

Some time ago I spoke to librarians at THE BRAND NEW York Public Library (NYPL), about "The Emerging Brain Fitness Field: Research and Implications." I provided an introduction to the way the brain works, discussed the growing research supporting how lifestyle factors donate to lifelong cognitive health, and offered a way to navigate through this emerging and confusing field. This was section of NYPL's first Health & Wellness Month for library staff, which in turn was a significant enabler of major health events for older adults.

This experience highlights two new trends: 1) public libraries are focusing more on health & wellness promotion in order to engage older adults, 2) cognitive health or brain fitness is becoming a significant element of that promotion.

US Public Census data explains why libraries need to cater to an older audience. From 2000 to 2020, the amount of Americans older than 55 is likely to grow from under 60 million to near 100 million. That is due to expanded longevity also to the infant boomer generation moving up the population pyramid.

Brain health offers a unique chance for libraries to engage active boomers and seniors. Rohit Burman, manager of culture and public broadcasting at MetLife Foundation, explains, "This past year we identified an evergrowing interest by boomers and seniors on brain health issues and thought that public libraries, as community and learning hubs, could play a major role. So, we decided to launch, in collaboration with the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and Libraries for the Future, a fresh iteration of the Fit for Life program, focused squarely on promoting brain fitness."

The Fit forever program supports 17 library systems from January 2009 to January 2010 that launch new initiatives to market brain health via the following research-based lifestyle factors: diet, physical exercise, intellectual challenge, mental stimulation through new experiences, and socialization.

There are other new programs libraries are employing to promote brain health. For get more info , the Lifelong Access Libraries Initiative, funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies, is used an all-inclusive method for older adults to boost their brain fitness through civic engagement.

Gaming, because of the NINTENDO WII GAMING CONSOLE, is quickly emerging as a significant possibility to foster intergenerational activities. At the very least 18 of the 89 NYPL locations ordered Wii gaming equipment and software packages in 2008, for both in-library use also to be tested. The American Library Association recently celebrated an official gaming day, including both games and, yes, video games.

Brigid Cahalan, NYPL Older Adults Services Specialist, explains that Wii gaming is becoming one of the most popular activities to engage older adults in the libraries that offer it regularly, complementing the more serious computer classes that had always been the major attraction. She highlights, "If we want to become the hubs of learning and community activity, we must offer new forms of social activities."

In short, libraries are already innovating to engage older adults with lifelong learning, civic engagement, gaming, health & wellness promotion. Brain fitness appears to be the glue that binds all these activities together.

This new reality raises some interesting questions for librarians, aging, and lifelong learning professionals to take into account: Will public libraries become the brain gyms of the future?

Marzena Ermler, Coordinator of Professional Development at NYPL, explains the emphasis on brain health in this manner, "If only we're able to help people understand that libraries are healthy places to allow them to go. Learning through life is vital to keep our brains in good shape as we grow older."

Pauline Rothstein, Ph.D., Co-editor of ALA book Longevity and Libraries: Unexpected Voices to be published in late 2009, recommends libraries to "think about brain fitness because the new concept that will help integrate disperse activities, identify additional needed resources, and explain our value to society. It seems sensible to start with specific programming, and work with a new framework to judge various library services. Public libraries need to redefine themselves from old thinking and material objects (buildings, books, DVDs...) and focus on services: just how do we educate, how do we help navigate the growing avalanche of information 'specifically around how to keep our brains in shape?"

That evolution will require libraries to proactively listen to community expectations, and to partner with local organizations, such as seniors centers, to meet up new requirements. If reshaped as Health Clubs of the mind and the Mind, libraries would give a critical service to an aging population and be centers of information and destinations for brain fitness programs.

Copyright (c) 2009 SharpBrains

Alvaro Fernandez is the Co-Founder of SharpBrains.com, a website that covers brain training and health resources. Alvaro has been quoted The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, CNN and more. He holds MA in Education and MBA from Stanford University, and teaches at UC Berkeley Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. You can Order this brain health book at Amazon.com.
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