Library services enriching community engagement for dementia care: The Tales & Travels Program at a Canadian Public Library as a case study

Abstract

Growing dementia-friendly library services are contributing to community-based dementia care. Emerging community programs in libraries and museums provide notable opportunities for promoting engagement and inclusivity, but these programs have yet to receive in-depth assessments and analyses to guide future research and practice. This paper presents a case study examining a social and storytelling program for people with dementia run by a Canadian public library. It investigates two research questions: How can public library programs contribute to community-based dementia care? And what are public libraries’ strengths and challenges in running programs for people with dementia? The study involves participant observations of the program and semi-structured interviews with people with dementia, caregivers, and program facilitators (librarians and Alzheimer Society coordinators). Through thematic analysis of fieldnotes and transcripts, the study reveals how this inclusive platform supports engagement, fosters relationships, helps caregivers, and reaches broader communities. This research further uncovers the librarians’ diversified roles as demonstrated through their collaboration with professionals, preparation and research, and facilitation of the sessions. This paper advances librarianship research on enriching community-based dementia care, including furthering inclusivity and engagement and extending accessible library services. By analyzing library programming for the dementia community and assessing its strengths and challenges, the paper highlights librarians’ awareness of the community’s evolving needs and their collaboration with other professionals. It offers practical insights on useful resources and emerging best practices that will hopefully inspire other initiatives in which information professionals can help improve the well-being of vulnerable populations.

Public library services for people with dementia: A study of students’ perceptions

“…Howarth (2020) explains that such persons are now viewed as citizens with a disability who have legal rights to certain levels of service in support of their autonomy, independence and quality of life in their community, as long as it is determined personally safe to do so. Accordingly, the overview of recent library and information science (LIS) literature indicates that librarians and information professionals have started to critically evaluate the potential contribution of libraries to the development of dementia-supportive environments in the context of their role in community-building, social justice and social inclusion (Dai et al, 2021; Dickey, 2020; Erdelez et al, 2015; McNicol, 2023; Riedner et al, 2020).…”

“…Since people with dementia often feel lonely and isolated, libraries as living forces of inclusion (IFLA and UNESCO, 2022) can support their social inclusion and social interactions through the organization of special programmes and activities such as film screenings, music events (Vincent, 2018) and programmes like ‘Tales & Travel Memories’ (Dai et al, 2021; Riedner et al, 2020). Social interaction and mental stimulation can improve their cognitive engagement and resilience, and have positive effects on their health.…”

“…By providing accessible resources, engaging programming, and trusted and non-stigmatized community spaces, libraries can improve the quality of life of people with dementia by focusing on the abilities that have been retained rather than those that have been lost (Riedner et al, 2020). Bearing in mind the growing awareness of dementia among library professionals (Dai et al, 2021), the aim of this article is to understand how future librarians in Croatia understand Alzheimer's disease and perceive the role of public libraries in the development of dementia-friendly communities.…”

How Information Science Research Can Contribute to the Development of Dementia‐Friendly Communities

“…Although librarians have not been traditionally regarded as professionals who support people with dementia, recent inclusion of a person‐centred and evidence‐based community (neuro)rehabilitation into the dementia care and wider acceptance of social model of disability (which argues that a person is not impaired by their condition but by social, economic, attitudinal, physical and other barriers in the society), has motivated library and information science scholars to join the efforts of healthcare and social care professionals and investigate how they can support people living with dementia and contribute to the development of dementia‐friendly communities as a part of their inclusion, diversity and social justice agenda (Erdelez, Howarth & Gibson, 2015; Riedner, 2020; Dickey, 2020; Dai, Bartlett & Moffatt, 2021; Faletar Tanacković, Petr Balog & Erdelez, 2021). McNicol (2023) states that libraries, just as a society as a whole, must change the way they think about people with dementia and try to understand how they can better serve them through customer service, resources, reading interventions, design and development of more positive and inclusive attitudes toward people with dementia among library staff.…”

“…Although there is a growing body of literature reporting on specific and particular library services for people with dementia, including lone and shared reading programs (Baker, Rimkeit & Claridge, 2018; Latchem & Greenhalgh, 2014; Billington, Carroll, Davis et al, 2013), music evenings, old‐time movie screenings and reminiscence therapy (Vincent, 2018), Memory Cafes (Charbonneau & Rathnam, 2020), and Tales and Travel programs (Dai, Bartlett & Moffatt, 2021), the library sector as a whole and (inter)national library organizations provide only sporadic (and often outdated) guidance on this topic. For example, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions' (IFLA) has published (now outdated) Guidelines for library services to persons with dementia (Mortensen & Nielesen, 2007), and American Library Association (ALA) has published only a short policy document Library Services for Patrons with Alzheimer's/Dementia with tips and links to best practice resources (ALA, n.d.).…”