New librarian’s role focuses on older people

Kia ora all, I have recently been appointed to a new role as your Services to Older Adults Librarian.

So, who am I and why do we need a librarian dedicated to older adults?

Firstly, a bit about me! Born and bred right here in Levin, I have a strong connection to the Horowhenua region and feel proud to be part of a community that I love.

I have enjoyed the last eight years as a stay-at-home mum, navigating the world of parenting two wee boys alongside my partner, Jesse.

While the boys were little, I expanded on my lifelong love of all things ‘library’, and took the opportunity to complete a Diploma in Library and Information studies.

This led to acquiring a customer service position at Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po¯ in June last year and now, thanks to central government’s Covid-19 recovery funding, I am excited to get cracking in my new specialist librarian role.

Why do we need a librarian dedicated to services for older adults?

Here in the Horowhenua, we have a large ageing population which is expected to grow significantly into the years ahead.

People are not just living longer; they are also living healthier and can contribute many more years to society.

In New Zealand, a feature of the older population is the increasing ethnic and social diversity, with higher proportions of Ma¯ ori, Pacific peoples and Asians who will have different needs and expectations.

There are many opportunities to be realised as future generations of older people are expected to be healthier, more skilled and educated, and remain more active in the workforce or in volunteer roles than their predecessors.

Positive attitudes to ageing and expectations of continuing productivity challenge the notion of older age as a time of retirement and withdrawal from society.

The focus is on lifetime experiences contributing to wellbeing in older age, and older age as a time for ongoing participation in society.

Libraries Horowhenua embraces our community’s older residents and recognises the importance of providing library services that are supportive and enrich their lives.

I am personally excited to be able to provide a focus to reducing some of the barriers older adults face when accessing lifelong learning and library services.

We already have some wonderful older adults services and programmes available across our libraries, such as our Home-link service and Tea and Tales, and I am looking forward to getting my teeth into these wonderful initiatives and extending these as well as developing new and exciting programmes.

My eyes and ears are open to new thoughts and ideas, we want to offer what ‘you’ need so your voice is important to us.

For more information on our existing services or to share your fresh ideas give me a call or pop in for a chat.