I hope that more libraries catch on and offer similar services.
Just ask the 10 Old Bridge seniors who took up Guitar Hero III as part of the Old Bridge Library’s “Senior Spaces” program on Nov. 8. Seniors, alongside teenage volunteers, tested their mettle in the ubiquitous air-guitar video game and various other games available for the Nintendo Wii gaming system as the first step in the library’s plan to make seniors more technologically proficient and to include them in what Allan Kleiman, assistant director of the Old Bridge Public Library, called the inevitable redesign of libraries. “We want to get them to feel they are part of the 21st century library and not left out,” Kleiman said. Kleiman said libraries have undergone enormous technological changes in the past decade, citing Internet databases, more electronic media access and, of all things, video-game stations. Kleiman said gaming in libraries is becoming more and more common but using the video game to slowly introduce modern technology to seniors is a relatively new idea. “This is a lot less frightening to play with than learning to use a computer,” he said. Kleiman said seniors should be able to snap a photo with a digital camera or surf the Internet or use the various other technologies surrounding them. The program, he hopes, will provide the catalyst for further learning and inclusion among that community.
Retrieved from the Home News Tribune
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