Archive for August 2022

Learning new skills, especially digital ones, can be exciting and intimidating. That’s why
Abington Township Public Library (ATPL-) teamed up with AARP Foundation, Older
Adults Technology Services (OATS), and its flagship program, Senior Planet, to provide the
Digital Skills Ready@50+™ program in our community beginning July 2022 through 2023. Senior Planet
instructors will teach lectures, hands-on workshops, or multi-week sessions remotely to older
adult learners. Classes will be hosted at the Abington Free Library.

This course was a digital course. All members of the program who signed up were sent digital copies of the Curriculum (which included recipes that were not prepared in the classes for further practice). The idea behind the course was to teach about various traditional african cooking traditions and diets. The program was designed based on evdience based, peer reviewed studies, and shown to increase the intake of vegetables, fruit, and greens as well as have a beneficial effect on blood pressure. This combination of health benefit and learning about other flavors and traditions made it a very interesting program to our patrons. It met 6 times, each instance covering a different topic and cooking a different recipe from the handbook. The handbook also has additional info and recipes. Many of the participants then became more interested in various African cooking (asking for restaurant recommendations and the like) from the area.

Rainbow Connections is a program for LGBTQ+ Children. Different instances of the event will have different themes, and sometimes guest speakers. It has become a place for children under teenage to gather with other LGBTQ+ people and discuss issues as well as hang out. Often, a book is read which leads to a discussion. Community members had mentioned it to us as a program their LGBTQ kiddos were interested in and we came to learn we are one of a very few programs of its type in the country. We sometimes have kiddos joining us from the West Coast. Often, in programming, focus is put on LGBTQ teens or on bringing LGBTQ speakers and performers for children. We thought it could fill a much needed gap to create a safe space for LGBTQ younger folks to meet and hang out with others. This program is run by the children’s department and a local community member.