News Release

Library Leaders Chosen for Lifelong Access Libraries Institute to be Held at UNC Chapel Hill in July 2008

June 16, 2008

Libraries for the Future (LFF) today announced the selection of 19 Lifelong Access Fellows, who will join a national network of librarians committed to transforming library services for active older adults. A record number of librarians applied for limited fellowships to the third annual Lifelong Access Libraries Leadership Institute, marking the growing recognition of this critical growth area for today’s libraries.

The Lifelong Access Libraries Leadership Institute is part of a multi-year national Lifelong Access Libraries Initiative that is aimed at transforming library services for older adults with opportunities for active learning, creative exploration, and meaningful civic engagement. The Initiative is led by Libraries for the Future, a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing innovation and investment in the nation’s libraries, and supported by generous funding from the Atlantic Philanthropies.

“Lifelong Fellows are pioneers in their profession,” said Diantha Dow Schull, director of the national Lifelong Access Libraries Initiative. “Just as it took dedicated professionals to institutionalize library services for children, and to build partnerships between libraries and health educators, so we now need professionals dedicated to bringing about change in the ways that librarians work with mid-life adults,” said Schull.

The 2008 Lifelong Fellows will participate in the third annual Institute in North Carolina July 27–July 30, 2008. The Institute will be co-hosted by the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Science and the Institute on Aging. It will assemble leading experts in diverse areas of creative aging – from anthropology to neuroscience – to spark creative thinking on the most effective ways for libraries to connect older adults to opportunities for personal and community renewal.

LFF selected the 2008 Fellows through a competitive proposal review. They hail from 15 states, representing public libraries providing services to communities as small as St. Helena (CA) and as large as New York City. All leaders in their libraries, the Fellows were selected for their commitment to furthering their libraries’ work with active older adults. Many have already pioneered projects expanding library outreach to this population.

The annual Lifelong Access Libraries Leadership Institutes focus on four areas: (1) concepts and research underlying new approaches to working with midlife and older adults (2) leadership and skills in community librarianship; (3) the core components of the Lifelong Access Libraries service framework; and (4) promising practices in library service for active older adult.

Confirmed speakers at the Institute include neuroscientist Paul Nussbaum; sociologist and aging specialist Victor Marshall; philosopher and AARP Academic Advisor H. Rick Moody; and anthropologist and author Mary Catherine Bateson, as well as Fellows who have participated in earlier Institutes and can offer firsthand reports of their challenges and successes.

Following the Institute, Fellows will be linked electronically in a national community of practice based on information exchange and communication. Insights and recommendations from the Lifelong Institute will be captured on the Lifelong Access Libraries website, www.lifelonglibraries.org, where there is more information about the Institute and the Initiative—as well as insights and themes from the 2006 and 2007 Institutes can be found.

Among those to recognize the Lifelong Access Libraries Initiative as a revolutionary and successful approach to addressing the needs of boomers and their communities is the California State Library. “Libraries are uniquely positioned to help ensure that our communities benefit from the skills and experience of baby boomers,” said Susan Hildreth, California State Librarian. “They are ideally suited to capitalize on older adults’ interests in learning and service.” Last year, California partnered with LFF to launch a California-wide initiative modeled on Lifelong Access Libraries, with a fall institute entitled “Transforming Life After 50.”

For more information on the Lifelong Access Libraries Leadership Institute, please visit www.lifelonglibraries.org.

2008 Lifelong Access Libraries Fellows

Ismael Alicea
Coordinator, Office of Community Outreach
New York Public Library (NY)

Susan Angelow
Branch Manager
Brunswick County Library (NC)

Jennifer Baker
Library Director
St. Helena Public Library (CA)

Carolyn Caywood
Bayside and Special Services Librarian
Virginia Beach Public Library (VA)

Barry Hensley
Manager, Zarrow Regional Library
Tulsa City County Library (OK)

Alice Knapp
Director of Public Services
Ferguson Library (CT)

Dr. Sue Loper
Library Director
Warren County Memorial Library (NC)

Melinda Ludwiczak
Coordinator for Arts and Business Partnerships
Hennepin County Library (MN)

Ruthie Maslin
Manager, Outreach Services
Lexington Public Library (KY)

Patricia Ann McCarthy
Manager of Volunteer Services
Northland Public Library (PA)

Ellen Mehling
Outreach Librarian
Queens Library (NY)

Tom Moran
Adult Programming and Outreach Manager
Austin Public Library (TX)

Karen Neely
Department Head, Outreach Services
Daniel Boone Regional Library (MO)

Barbara Nightingale
Reference Librarian
San Dimas Library (CA)

Satia Orange
Director, Office for Literacy and Outreach Services
American Library Association (IL)

Greg Poe
Information Services Librarian
Burke County Public Library (NC)

Michele Raine
Manager, Reference Services
Fayetteville Public Library (AZ)

Terry Soave
Manager of Outreach and Neighborhood Services
Ann Arbor District Library (MI)

Beth Wiseman
Library Public Information and Programming Specialist
Loudoun County Public Library (VA)