Thanks to a collaborative effort with the Hillsborough Township Public Library and the Somerset County Library System, elderly residents living in the Brookdale Hillsborough senior living center were recently treated to a newly renovated library with some modern accoutrements and a more pleasing reading space.
After more than a year of planning, staff members at the senior living facility on Auten Road celebrated the grand opening of their updated library on May 31.
Hillsborough Branch Manager Karen Pifher said that the project started when officials at Brookdale approached the township library for some help rearranging and modernizing its in-house library.
What started out at the facility as a collection of books that could be found in multiple rooms across the building’s floors, Pifher said the library helped Brookdale consolidate its books into one centralized location, complete with comfortable furniture to make a more relaxing reading area.
“[The project was done] with a lot of hard work on [Brookdale’s] part,” she said. “They did all the lifting and carrying – we just gave them some ideas and suggestions on how to rearrange things.”
Choosing which books stayed on the shelves and which were put away to make room for newer titles turned out to a major aspect of the project, Pifher said, as the books the facility regularly got were donations from residents or their families.
“They have a pretty regular influx of books,” she said. “We suggested that they talk to their residents and get an idea on what they like to read – and that’s basically what libraries do.”
As it turned out, residents at Brookdale generally leaned more toward fiction titles, though there is “an avid fanbase for non-fiction and biography titles,” Pifher said.
In addition to helping choose which books would stay and which would be put into storage for use at a later time, the township library also helped set up a way to provide more one-on-one customer service for Brookdale residents.
Moving forward, any Brookdale residents that place a hold on books at the Hillsborough Library can have the items delivered to them. They can also take time to speak with a township library employee to get suggestions for something to read based on their preferences.
Assistance with the library’s databases, catalog, online e-book library and magazine-centric Flipster app will also now be provided, officials said.
“As we want the library locations to be destinations within the communities we serve, we also want to be mindful of taking our services to communities that cannot access a library structure for whatever reason,” SCLSNJ Director of Public Services Christopher Korenowsky said. “Libraries are more than four walls. Our efforts touch the lives of everyone we serve, whether they physically make a trip to the library or not.”
Moving forward, library officials said there will be a continued partnership between the Hillsborough Library and Brookdale, with library staff regularly refreshing titles to meet individual resident and staff requests.
“We want to encourage reading and help the facility understand and encourage reading for their residents,” Pifher said. “I think reading just helps engage people and encourage conversation. Reading helps with keeping people active.”