Addressing Needs of Older Adults in the Library World

Posted by liaison on January 13th, 2025 Posted in: All Members

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The Elder Justice Task Force is a new initiative under the American Library Association that focuses on the interests of older adults whether related to health or other issues. NNLM staff member George Strawley discusses the formation of the group in his Public Libraries Online blog article.

“We live in an aging society,” says task force co-founder and co-chair Joseph Winberry, an assistant professor in the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “People 65 and older are the fastest growing population in the U.S. and many countries around the world. At the same time, statistics indicate how ageism and elder abuse are considerable problems facing older people.”

Professor Winberry presented at our September 2024 R4 Connections webinar. His research broadly examines what role the library should take in an aging society and considers how differing combinations of people, information, and elder justice can transform or diminish the library’s role in the twenty-first century. The webinar recording is available to watch on the NNLM YouTube channel.