Designed and delivered BeHealthy5 – a weekly, adult program series and monthly activities checklist that promoted financial, mental, social, physical and spiritual health. The series was offered from January to May 2009 at the Newark Library. Finance programs covered managing personal finances, investing in turbulent times, and estate and retirement planning. Mental health programs included clutter and personal organization, board game sessions, and Tame Your Tech which offered free assistance with technology gadgets. Wii bowling, scrapbooking, blogging and finding a love relationship were highlighted programs aimed at promoting social health. Physical health topics included brain health, Wii Play, and health qigong. The project was promoted through community partnerships, local media, and online networks. Due to strong community response, some programs developed through this grant have become ongoing library programs and others will help define future program planning. An active Advisory Committee of local adults age 50+ helped guide library programs, ensuring responsiveness to community needs.
Grant: $20,000 Visit the Alameda County Library website.

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Two workshops (the second added due to demand) that engaged local Boomers in gathering and recording digital, first-person narratives that spoke to the social, political, and personal aspects of Berkeley's voluntary school desegregation of 1964-68 – a turbulent period in Berkeley's history. Digital recordings of 13 narratives were completed. These stories, now on DVD, are available as part of the library's circulating collection and also as downloadable movies on the library's website. In addition, a program is planned for 2010 at which the final narratives will be shown to the public. This project provided the local community with a much longed for opportunity to revisit, discuss, re-evaluate and share stories about this pivotal period, and led to community healing and legacy building. It also increased library visibility and appreciation. Training in storytelling and digital technologies at the two workshops was provided by the project's partner, Center for Digital Storytelling. The library has subsequently set up a volunteer-run digital storytelling workstation that will continue to gather stories on this and other topics of community interest.
Grant: $18,754 Visit the Berkeley Public Library website.

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Through a partnership with Skyline College, offered two 9-week Wi$eUp programs which focused on financial literacy issues facing Boomers. Each session averaged 8-10 appreciative and engaged participants. Collections were also expanded at all four branches with the addition of popular reading materials in standard and large print format, including new magazines and newspapers of interest to Boomers. Promoted these new adult services through monthly utility bill mailings.
Grant: $18,754 Visit the Daly City Public Library website.

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Designed and provided 4 half-day informational expos aimed at Boomers on four key topics of interest: health, financial planning, leisure, and citizenship – the latter aimed primarily at the large Southeast Asian community now in Fresno. In partnership with various community organizations, each expo had highlighted guest speakers. The expos were promoted through the community partnerships, extensive local media outlets, printed flyers and bookmarks, and on the library’s website. Each expo also helped identify community organizations interested in ongoing collaborations, including providing future Boomer focused programs at the library. Each expo included, on average, 15 vendors and 5 speakers and drew 175-250 participants. Developed a Boomer page on the library's website that includes links to Boomer related community resources.
Grant $20,000 Visit the Fresno County Public Library website.

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Designed and provided a series of programs, Refresh Your Life, on a total of 19 programs on such topics as health, finances, finding work, and author/musician presentations. Created a Refresh Your Life newsletter distributed each month of the grant period, in both email and paper versions. Realizing the value of the email format, the library’s regular monthly events calendar has now been migrated to this email format as well. Also created a Refresh Your Life blog as a place to discuss issues and ideas relevant to Boomers – the blog continues even though the grant is now over. The 19 programs drew attendance of 292 people – 70 of whom had never been to the library before.
Grant $20,000 Visit the Hayward Public Library website.

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Created a gathering place at all seven Bakersfield libraries for Boomers to meet, exchange ideas, get information, socialize and attend lectures. Each of these dedicated spaces also includes a Boomer Information Zone (BIZ) kiosk that serves as a community information board, promoting materials of particular interest to Boomers. Offered a series of 33 public lectures in each library on topics of interest to Boomers (health, finances, life planning, and technology) to which 200 people attended. Explored nontraditional avenues for publicizing and promoting the project to Boomers via television, radio, print, and digital mediums in English and Spanish. A significant Boomer response to the initial needs assessment (over 300 print and electronic responses) highlighted the keen interest this project held for the community. Scheduling issues that postponed several of the programs until summer months, however, resulted in lower than anticipated attendance due to summer heat and vacations.
Grant $20,000 Visit the Kern County Library website.

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Created a dedicated adult space at the Carson Library called The Renaissance Center, with reading materials, audio-books, and adult board and electronic games. Developed several new programs of particular interest to Boomers that encouraged brain fitness and socialization. Programs ranged from film viewings to video gaming to an intergenerational knitting club. Since demand for adult computer classes outpaced the library's ability to provide them, five self-guided Computer-Training-in-a-Box courses were created. Each contains material for one 30-45 minute course with an additional 15-30 minute practice session. Volunteer-led computer classes were also initiated to supplement the self-guided courses. Created a community calendar (that migrated online after the grant period) that consolidates art and health events, as well as volunteer opportunities from a variety of community organizations.
Grant $10,786 Visit the County of Los Angeles Public Library website.

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Produced five staff training sessions devoted to helping library staff become more comfortable working with Boomer volunteers in roles that more accurately reflect the interests and skills of this cohort. Also, developed four high-impact volunteer positions for the library   talent scout, children's storyteller, tech concierge, and volunteer trainer. Staff also participated in the State Library’s related Get Involved initiative, which provided many of the volunteer tools this project had originally envisioned developing. Although some staff remain reticent about these new volunteer roles, many others have embraced the lessons learned through this project and are working with volunteers in new ways.
Grant $1,169 Visit the Marin County Free Library website.

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Offered a series of Taking the Bite Out of the Sandwich Years seminars that connected Boomers to local private and public resources on such topics as Redefining Aging, Caring for Your Aging Parents, Roadmap to Medicare, and Recareering Bootcamp. Also developed a Job Seekers Handbook for library patrons. The originally envisioned 6 seminars grew to 14 due to popular demand. Created new high-impact volunteer opportunities to assist with planning and staffing the library’s Readers’ Festival, managing the Friends’ online book inventory, and serving as homework tutors – 37 volunteers attended the first orientation for these high-impact volunteer positions. The Boomer response to these new volunteer opportunities not only fulfilled the specific project objectives but also helped this small library recoop some of their budget cuts. Prior to this project, the City Council had reduced the library’s book budget for the coming year to $50,000. Due to the specific community input from the Boomer volunteers who had participated in this library grant, the City Council reconsidered their previous budget allocation and increased the book budget by another $150,000!
Grant $7,000 Visit the Mission Viejo Library website.

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Convened an interagency working group of community partners who developed and administered a survey to over 100 local agencies (received 33 responses from a wide range of organizations) to assess the state of Boomer volunteer opportunities throughout the community. Conducted two Boomer volunteer focus groups to further assess optimization of Boomer volunteer recruitment, recognition, and retainment. Convened a volunteer agency forum to share survey and focus group findings and then hosted a one day volunteer training summit for local agencies and organizations on best practices for engaging Boomer volunteers. Developed a collection of library materials on volunteering, designed a volunteer resources web page, and created a three-minute DVD highlighting this project’s collaborative interagency approach to assessing ways to improve Boomer volunteer opportunities. Also participated in the State Library's related Get Involved initiative, and leveraged the two projects to effectively position the library as a leader in addressing Boomer volunteer issues on a community-wide basis.
Grant $12,962 Visit the Monterey Public Library website.

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Designed library programming to address such Boomer topics of interest as health & nutrition, work, and lifestyle choices. Information packets on 12 major health concerns of Boomers were created and distributed to all OCPL branch libraries. Library staff also participated in a Boomer outreach event sponsored by a local healthcare center, and a 'walk and learn' event was offered in partnership with the Parks Department. Outreach to small businesses was expanded by increasing the number of SCORE workshop host sites from 3 to 5 branch libraries. Each workshop saw an average of 65 attendees. In fact, the demand for SCORE workshops was occasionally so great that staff had to turn people away because the library meeting room had reached maximum occupancy. Convened a half-day staff development training to better prepare staff to meet the growing demand from patrons for help with job searches. Offered a series of lifestyle programs including a literary event wtih mystery writers as well as a community book read of Three Cups of Tea – in which almost 300 people participated that resulted in the creation of a social networking blog.
Grant $20,000 Visit the Orange County Public Libraries website.

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Community Boomers, many who work in Palo Alto but live elsewhere and therefore do not often use the library, were offered five lunch-time Feed Your Head programs that featured experts on brain fitness and healthy aging from Stanford University Medical Center. A blog was also started and podcasts of the brain fitness programs were created so individuals unable to attend in-person could still benefit from the information. Each program attracted 35-50 people. Program press releases and flyers were designed and distributed, local restaurants were partnered with to provide free, healthy refreshments, and books related to the subject of healthy aging were purchased and added to the collection. Two laptop computers and 3 different brain fitness software packages were purchased and made available for public testing. The Branch’s visitor count and circulation statistics have both significantly increased since the program series began. Based on community response, the library hopes to offer a second series of these Feed Your Head programs in the future.
Grant $12,613 Visit the Palo Alto City Library website.

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Created an online Virtual Business Center to serve Boomers who are also local business people – a group identified by the library as one of the most underserved. The Virtual Business Center provides a web presence where Boomers can access online resources, databases, and connect with each other and the library in an open online forum. Based on interviews with local business owners, the website was created and branded InfoGalaxy.org. It highlights various library resources on business related topics. The Proquest Entrepreneurship Database was added to the library's resources and a series of videotaped interviews and tutorials to assist patrons in using business databases were created. The library's current business collection was also evaluated and weeded. Training in the use of print and online business resources was given to all adult reference staff. Plans were also begun to create a dedicated in-library business center.
Grant $20,000 Visit the Palos Verdes Library District website.

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Purchased materials to enhance adult collection to better reflect Boomer interests. Created a computer assistance program and Brain Fit memory training program. Also participated in the State Library's related Get Involved initiative, and leveraged the two projects to effectively revitalize the volunteer program and create five new volunteer-led services, including a grant writer, computer literacy instructor, and volunteer storytime program. Recruited and trained 20 new high-level volunteers to oversee these new volunteer services. Also developed volunteer training modules on leading a children’s storytime and providing quality customer service. Library staff attitudes about volunteers were transformed by experiencing first hand the value of utilizing Boomer volunteers in new high level library roles that created services the library would not have been able to offer otherwise.
Grant $20,000 Visit the Roseville Public Library website.

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Developed and delivered a series of 10 monthly programs on digital technologies and their use, aimed primarily at Boomers. Programs included: Talking Books, Library Self Check Out, Using a Digital Camera, Planning for Digital TV, Small Business & Volunteer Online Resources, Cell Phones, iPods, Travel Planning via Computer, Services of USPS.com, and Wii Fit Games. Following each program volunteers from the University of Redlands provided hands-on technical guidance and assistance. These programs attracted 300+ attendees over the course of the grant year.
Grant $18,000 Visit the San Bernardino County Library website.

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Two self-directed groups of volunteer Boomers to plan and conduct new and innovative adult library programs. One group planned and conducted a series of 5 very well attended library programs on sustainable living practices. The other group planned and held a single program event on stroke awareness that was less well attended and that required much more assistance and direction from library staff. Also participated in the State Library's related Get Involved initiative, and leveraged the two projects to begin re-envisioning how staff work with and facilitate volunteers to ensure self-motivated and independently driven volunteer projects. From these experiences, the need for additional staff training on how to specifically work with this new type of engaged, self-directed volunteer was identified. A content expert was hired and, in collaboration with Infopeople, a staff training curriculum entitled Facilitation Skills for Working with Engaged Volunteers was designed.
Grant $13,011 Visit the San Jose Public Library website.

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Developed a series of new, innovative, and wide-ranging programs to address Boomer interests in cultural enrichment, health and fitness, lifelong learning, and leisure activities. Programs included: San Leandro Reads – a book discussion group, lecture, film viewing, and museum tour; Healthy San Leandro – a lecture and health fair, co-sponsored by Kaiser Permanente; Hawaiian Ethnic Celebration – lectures and music concerts on Hawaiian culture; San Francisco Barbary Coast Field Trip; Chinese History – a lecture. A series of how-to workshops – the Baby Boomer Academy – was also offered, ranging from cooking workshops, eco-friendly landscaping, and antique appraisal, to a 5-week creative writing class. The both programs and workshops drew huge crowds, some in excess of 400 people. A Boomer volunteer advisory group of 9 members was recruited that continues to meet, present ideas, and implement new programs. This group, coupled with significant community partnerships, made these high quality programs with well-known personalities possible. The community buzz that resulted has inspired people to rethink what kinds of activities can take place at a library.
Grant $20,000 Visit the San Leandro Public Library website.

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Planned and conducted a wide variety of workshops, lectures, film screenings, book discussions, as well as classes on crafts, fitness, and job searching to address the lifelong learning interests identified by local Boomers. Participation at these events was high, usually ranging from 100 to 300 attendees. Materials were also added to the collection on topics related to these workshops, lectures, and classes. Recruited a total of 43 new volunteers. The library gained important insights into the dual needs of their primarily Hispanic adult user population who wanted both non-formal learning opportunities and inclusive family events. The library programming that resulted was truly responsive to these needs and accounts for the high attendance levels. According to library staff, these programs brought more adults to the library than ever before with the greatest participation at events geared to the entire family.
Grant $20,000 Visit the Santa Fe Springs City Library website.

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Designed and delivered a program series called The Living Room Project that showcased 28 different educational and cultural programs for older adults that resulted in a total combined attendance of 1592 people. Programs included: Intro to Yoga, Intro to Salsa, Armchair African Safari, a classical piano concert, a lecture on Alzheimer's, and a folk music concert. Filmed 3 of the 28 programs as webcasts and posted these to the library’s website to extend audience outreach. Tested two social media tools, Facebook and Twitter, on the library’s website to further extend community outreach efforts. After only six weeks, the Facebook account had 472 fans and the library Twitter account had 77 followers. Recruited and launched an Adult Advisory Board that currently consists of 22 members who continue to advise the library regarding future programming ideas for older adults.
Grant $19,974 Visit the Santa Monica Public Library website.

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Community focus groups revealed that local Boomers were often unaware of library programs and wanted library information more proactively shared via technology. Ten library staff members were trained in advanced outreach techniques and became Outreach Ambassadors giving presentations about library services for Boomers at 14 community events, reaching almost 2300 people. Events included a newspaper brown bag lunch, Senior Round Table meeting, credit union staff meeting, and a Cultural Diversity Fair. Also created an outreach brochure that highlighted how the library could assist people in difficult economic times. Launched a new library e-newsletter that allows users to choose topics about which they receive updates – there are currently 1055 subscribers. New library social networking sites were also tested. Hosted, in collaboration with community partners, four staff development workshops on assisting patrons seeking jobs and financial aid, and two public programs – a National Issues Forum and a monthly book club.
Grant $19,974 Visit the Solano County Library website.

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Designed and delivered more than 25 programs on a wide range of topics from finance, health, travel, genealogy, cooking, crafts, and the environment, to author presentations – all in response to the identified interests and needs of this community’s Boomer population. Also offered “how-to” programs on living with cancer, taking care of grandchildren, finding affordable housing, and improving job seeking skills. Made outreach presentations to 6 service clubs and designed program promotional flyers. Began redesigning volunteer positions and participated in a city volunteer fair. Also participated in the State Library’s related Get Involved initiative and received a Met Life Fit for Life grant. By leveraging these three projects, the library was able to effectively expand their skilled volunteer pool, increase health related programming opportunities, and utilize new volunteers as program presenters which greatly increased the quality and number of programs the library was able to offer. The city Major was so impressed by the wide range of new adult, library programs that she highlighted the library and this grant project at a televised City Council meeting.
Grant $20,000 Visit the South San Francisco Public website.

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Designed and delivered a program series entitled We’ve Only Just Begun that offered 41 programs on topics of interest to Boomers, including science, health, the arts, business, finance, computer applications, and retirement. The series attracted 2,496 attendees. Worked with other community organizations to create a Volunteer Speakers Bureau so that local Boomers could share a lifetime of expertise while also helping the library provide programming, resulting in 19 applicants to date. Guidelines and an application and review process for prospective volunteer speakers was also created. The Volunteer Speakers Bureau is now highlighted on the City of Sunnyvale's volunteer web page. Created a Boomer Advisory Committee that, coupled with the Volunteer Speakers Bureau, enabled the library to expand its offering of programs from the original goal of 20 to 41. The Advisory Committee continues to provide support for these adult programs. Library staff also promoted the grant by giving public presentations to various community groups. As noted in their final report, “The praise and appreciation from the community for these programs made this grant particularly rewarding for library staff.
Grant $20,000 Visit the Sunnyvale Public Library website.

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Developed a new library LINK (Lifelong Information Networks and Knowledge) brand and undertook an outreach campaign (including a Link Logs' blog and Facebook page) that highlighted library materials and services of particular interest to Boomers. Designed and conducted, along with community partners and a Boomer Advisory group, 2 large community fairs – a Travel Fair [250 attendees] and a Health & Fitness Fair [550 attendees]. Also participated in the State Library's related Get Involved initiative and leveraged these two projects to effectively create new volunteer job descriptions and re-tool existing volunteer opportunities to better match the interests of Boomers. Created a new volunteer brochure and began utilizing VolunteerMatch as volunteer recruitment tools. Purchased new materials for the library collection that were of particular interest to Boomers and identified these new materials with a LINK logo sticker. Created two podcasts – one on volunteering and another on careers in public service. As the first City department to create blogs and podcasts, the library’s success in this area has now positioned them as the lead podcasting and blogging resource for the City of Torrance.
Grant $14,800 Visit the Torrance Public Library website.

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Designed and lauched Be More @ Your Library – a series of 20 new library programs and 2 large community events responsive to Boomer interests. Combined, these programs attracted 1173 attendees – 60% of whom had never been in the library before. Programs included an ongoing, weekly games activity and a twice weekly computer class. Several innovative hands-on classes and lectures were also offered, including The Page and Stage Book Club where participants attended 5 plays at local theaters, were given backstage tours, and read the books the plays were based upon; and an alternative library art show, Celebrating Books Becoming Art, in which 23 area artists used discarded books to create works of art. In addition, 2 large community events – an art show and a Caregivers’ Information Faire – were also offered in collaboration with several community partners. Recruited and utilized 20 community volunteers who taught several of the new programs, with 45 additional volunteers assisting in other ways. A 6-member Advisory Board was created that also assisted with new programs. As a small, rural county with few cultural enrichment and educational opportunities, library programs of this type were non-existent prior to this grant. By creatively reaching out to their community of Boomers – not only to serve them but to utilize their talents to actually provide the desired programs – this library was able to provide creative, responsive adult programming.
Grant $19,061 Visit the Tuolumne County Library website.

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