The 24th Thing

Helene Blowers visited us today to talk about the 24th Thing. Among many wonderful points made was the role of librarians as facilitators in the shared discovery process. We are creating the future of libraries, the lifebrary as Helene talked about! Enjoy her presentation by visiting her blog, LibraryBytes.

The library as a place for inspiration and innovation for the community, particularly the local community, relates to all generations. How can we gather then display 'deeply local' community information in ways that others can act as contributors and curators?

Goin’ Someplace Special

Patricia C. McKissack. Goin’ Someplace Special. Illustrator Jerry Pinkney. New York: Atheneum, 2001.

Follow ’Tricia Ann on her poignant journey in Goin’ Someplace Special, a Coretta Scott King Book Award winner for excellence in illustration. Mama Frances empowers her granddaughter ’Tricia Ann to triumph over deep prejudice in the 1950s segregated South. ’Tricia Ann travels with perseverance on her first solo trip through Nashville to a uniquely liberating “Someplace Special,” the public library. The recollection of Mama Frances’s model of confidence, respect, and steadfastness keep ’Tricia Ann walking on to her final destination. As a parenting grandparent, Mama Frances equips ’Tricia Ann for the reality of the world with the strength of independent learning and autonomous thinking. “Those signs can tell us where to sit, but they can’t tell us what to think,” she tells her granddaughter.
Watercolor and pencil illustrations capture ’Tricia Ann’s big steps in the world, which the author notes, parallel events of her own childhood. This book has also been recognized as an ALA Notable Book and received Parents’
Choice Award. Ages 4–8.

Reviewed by Charity Leonette, Special Services Coordinator, Allegheny County Library Association. This review was printed in a special issue of The Journal of Intergenerational Relationships focused on Grandparents and other Relatives as Parents, Vo. 7(2-3) 2009. Available online at www.taylorandfrancisgroup.com. ISSN: 1535-0770.

RSVP Programs Inspire the Generations

Another website with program resources:

RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) of Dane County offers intergenerational programs including Foster Grandparents, folk arts fairs, tutoring and mentoring, classroom helper, and reading buddies and computer buddies.

Our local RSVP of Allegheny County connects older adults with a variety of intergenerational volunteer opportunities including Foster Grandparents, Beginning with Books, The First Tee of Pittsburgh, and more.

Thanks again to Tim Salony from the Blair County Library System for sharing the RSVP of Dane County program link.

Forthcoming Book

Thought this would interest those of you who like to read up on intergenerational studies. The book is to be released this month. I plan to get my hands on a copy!

The Binding Tie: Chinese Intergenerational Relations in Modern Singapore

Intergenerational Programs and Aging

Thanks to Tim Salony of the Blair County Library System for pointing out this great resource.

Penn State's Agricultural & Extension Education offers this great webpage on Intergenerational Programs and Aging. Find program ideas, articles, resources, initiatives from around the globe and more.

Get a Clue About Art

Last summer, the Allegheny County Library Association, Andrew Bayne Memorial Library, and Brew House Association, a local arts organization, piloted a six-week intergenerational art program bringing together older adults and youth for art workshops and a gallery exhibit.

This program included sculpting, collage, drawing, fabrics, acrylic painting and watercolor painting. Each 1.5 hour weekly workshop featured one artist and their media, exposing participants to a variety of shared experiences.

Over 60 pieces of artwork were included in the exhibit a few weeks after the concluding workshop. All works created by the participants in the project and works submitted by the workshop artists were exhibited professionally in the Brew House Gallery, Space 101 for a Sunday afternoon exhibit.

Because of the success of this pilot and the continued interest for our partners at BHA, the program has been replicated in four libraries the summer of 2008 with extended 2 hour workshops and a collaborative gallery exhibit with works from participants and artists at all four libraries.

We look forward to continuing the program with summer particularly with the summer reading club theme of Be Creative @ Your Library. To learn more about this program, contact Charity Leonette, Special Services Coordinator, Allegheny County Library Association.

Sprouting Together

The Altoona Area Public Library recently received a 2008 AARP Library Services for Older Adults Award for their intergenerational program for grandparents and their grandchildren, Sprouting Together.

The award description described the program's aim to increase intergenerational bonds through an art-based initiative program that emphasizes a high level of interaction between grandparents and their grandchildren as they created a scrapbook of memories, participated in games, stories and art projects. Sprouting Together focuses on family history and family stories in a creative interactive learning environment and includes a family tree art project, cultural changes, wardrobe/dress changes, economic changes and a celebration of intergenerational collaboration.

One innovative aspect of the program included videos of the session on YouTube which allowed participants to share the experience with family and friends outside of the local area. Great ideas!