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Library Services for Senior Citizens

The characteristics of old age in general are important to the design of library services for senior citizens. Old age has come to be viewed as a phase of life and not simply as a period of deterioration that comes before death.1 Although part of growing old involves compensating for the diminution of faculties, old age is not solely a period of learning to deal with physical and mental decline. Those who "grow old gracefully" not only accept their reduced powers, but continue to pursue a lively interest in personal growth and engage in the active review of their lives.

Effective library programs for senior citizens incorporate a constructive, positive attitude toward aging. In the last several decades, and in the face of an ever larger population of older persons, libraries have been learning to provide special services for senior citizens. As time goes on, public libraries have intensified the collection of information about older people and the creation of programs carefully designed to bring library services to older persons.

Senior Citizens

One reason for the concern about serving older persons is that the American population is growing older. The proportion of Americans over sixtyfive continues to rise.2 Life expectancy has increased, and many older people are in good health. The presence of a number of theories of the aging process and of the role of the aged in society testifies to a deep concern with the challenge of growing older. Within the context of rapid change that prevails in industrialized societies, attitudes toward aging and the aging process itself are both evolving.

Although Third World populations may be aging, as well, the "graying" of the Western industrialized nations is proceeding at a rapid pace. In many areas of Europe, older persons make up 15 percent of the population. Among Americans, approximately 12 percent of the population is over 65 y...

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Library Services for Senior Citizens. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 12:01, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1684217.html