In my current role as Acting Adult Services Librarian at the North Vancouver District Public Library Parkgate Branch, I have been working closely with adult patrons, the majority of whom are seniors, to transition onsite programing into digitally delivered programs. I have worked hard to ensure that the programming offered meets their learning and leisure needs and ameliorates the social isolation that the pandemic has brought to many seniors, particularly those that live alone. Technologically shy, novice Zoomers have blossomed as they have learned skills to accommodate their accessibility needs such as the use or screen readers, close captions, screen adjustments and other solutions. I am particularly proud of my Mere Mortals program where I worked with community thought leaders to inspire important community conversations about the need for normalizing end of life planning and how contemplating mortality can improve health and wellbeing long before death.

Because of my background in health librarianship, patient advocacy, and end-of-life literacy work, I have a strong knowledge base related to programming needs for seniors, the importance of cultural adaptations to meet the needs of various community sectors, and the demographics which are resulting in the coming silver tsunami as baby boomers age. I worked with the BC Centre for Palliative Care to adapt their existing advance care planning curriculum for Chinese and South Asian communities. I worked with an advisory panel, working groups, cultural brokers and other stakeholders to develop appropriate cultural lenses through which community needs were determined, curriculum was adapted, training plans were developed, and evaluation plans were specified. I set up focus groups and world cafes to engage with community and ensure that their values, needs and preferences were understood and addressed.

In other consulting work, I developed a data-driven model for specifying provincial registry needs for point-of-need access to care planning documents so that patients can receive the care that they want for themselves. Another project involved creating a dementia lens through which to take into consideration the needs of persons with dementia and their care partners when planning education events. Aspects that we considered were accessibility of buildings, signage, non-distracting spaces, vocabulary, cognitive load, learning styles, and other factors that would affect outcome of education programs. I am passionate about getting the right information in the right format to the right people at the right time.

In conclusion, I bring a varied portfolio with a depth of knowledge about seniors, accessibility needs, information and leisure needs, and exemplary public library practice. I pride myself on excellent customer service to make sure that every patron encounter is prepared for and welcoming.