Seniors’ Month offers opportunity, connection for Caledon residents

May 20, 2021 · 0 Comments

By Rob Paul

No community can thrive without a strong connection to the seniors within it and keeping them engaged is the key to having them stay in it. If a community can’t offer its senior population a chance to contribute and get involved, it can lose one of the most crucial pillars of the municipality.

As such, it’s important to celebrate the seniors in communities across Ontario and that’s why June is Seniors Month.

To show seniors just how important they are to Caledon, the Caledon Public Library (CPL) is teaming up with the Town of Caledon and other community stakeholders to give seniors who are 55-plus free stuff for the entire month.

Not only will there be free programming throughout the month, but CPL will be providing a number of swag bags that can be reserved through the Town and pickups can be arranged at one of CPL’s seven branches.

The reusable insulated tote bags include things like snacks, meal vouchers, toothbrushes, and community information.

CPL knows they play a major role in spreading community values and cheer, and being a hub for the community they’ve taken it upon themselves to make sure everybody has something to be excited about. That’s why they’ve put so much effort into Seniors Month.

“At the library we really try to look at the different and diverse groups in the community and try to make sure we’re doing something for every demographic,” said Mary Maw, CPL Manager of Communications and Community Development. “For quite a few years in June, we’ve done a lot to honour seniors. We usually do a partnership with Caledon’s Meals on Wheels to do a senior’s luncheon to kick it off and then we would do so many in person events and now we’re just trying to pivot to the virtual platform to figure out what we can do to support seniors remotely.

“I think we’ve done a good job and we’ve got some great programs that we’re excited about. It was really exciting for us too that we’ll be able to help support the Town of Caledon’s swag bag initiative for seniors. They’re so important to the community and we’ve had such a great relationship and had such great programming for seniors for years, but COVID has made it so challenging.”

Knowing that seniors have so much to give to younger generations, Maw wants to make sure they feel the love in Caledon and looks forward to a year where COVID won’t restrict their chance to bond with younger members of the community.

“You can’t be all things for all people, but we try to be something to everyone,” she said. “With the seniors in particular, they really are the legacy and the history of Caledon, and we want to honour them and show we appreciate them. They have so much to give back—it’s not all about what the library does for them, we get so much back too.

“One of the things we’re really excited about is the local history trivia night because they have so much to share. In previous years, we did a program called Bridging the Gap where we had high school students record the seniors’ stories. They would meet on a weekly basis, and it was fascinating to hear the local history of Caledon because most of them were born and raised here. It was such a great way to connect with intergenerational programming. We were going to do that again pre-COVID so that’s in our future plans.”

The pandemic has put many seniors in a tougher situation due to the need to connect through virtual avenues, but CPL has focused on ensuring they can keep as many seniors in Caledon in the loop as possible, and have even offered assistance in getting them up to speed with the online world.

“We’ve gotten really great feedback,” she said. “The library is one of those things that a lot of the seniors have grown up with and it’s near and dear to them. They feel ownership with the library; it’s sort of part of their community connection. We looked at all the analytics for 2020 and we sent out over 78,000 emails and I think that helped really keep the seniors connected. We tried to on an ongoing basis give an update of what was going on at the library and tech help at home for the seniors who struggled pivoting to working online. I think we’ve really helped them move virtual and that’s been really great to be able to help with that. We’re reaching out to them all the time asking what else we can do to support them.”

To help celebrate seniors in Caledon for the month, CPL is offering virtual programs throughout June. The programming includes, a Better You: Lifelong Learning at Your Library; Solving the Mysteries of the Cloud; a genealogy workshop; and Sustainable Balcony Gardening.

CPL will also be providing an outlet for seniors to interact with others through their Caledon Heritage Trivia Night and their weekly Let’s Connect—a community conversation circle.

Details on the programming and online events can be found at engagedpatrons.org/Events.cfm?SiteID=8142&keyword=June+your+library.

There will also be a collection of different things that seniors can borrow throughout the month.

Some of the things that can be borrowed as part of the special collections program are guitars, binoculars for bird watching, board games, blood pressure kits, and more. They will also be offering Adult Launchpads to use that were funded by the Palgrave Rotary—preloaded tablets that don’t need Wi-Fi and provide access to educational and engaging content including brain games for adults and ESL material.

For seniors who love to craft, CPL has them covered with Creativebug, which offers online video arts and crafts workshops and technique. If they want to settle in for the night with a movie, they can use Kanopy or Hoopla to stream films to their computer, phone, or tablet. And if there are seniors who want to get a better understanding of the internet, Techboomers will show them how to use popular and trusted websites and internet-based applications.

On top of everything being offered by CPL to seniors for June, they’ll still be able to use the digital library as an online resource. Through the library website, they can access a variety of eBooks, eAudiobooks, digital magazines and newspapers, streaming platforms and research tools.

All of this can be accessed online through the library website at caledon.library.on.ca/borrow-download-stream/digital-library. If any senior needs tech assistance, they can sign up for CPL’s one-on-one support by contacting the library who will then get in touch with them.

CPL staff are responding to voicemails, emails, and text messages from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call the main line at 905-857-1400, text them at 416-828-7086, or email them at [email protected].