Every so often at the end of last year, librarians received thank-you emails from older New Yorkers, grateful for the variety of online programs they’d been offering since closing their doors in March 2020 to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Citywide, libraries have proven themselves to be crucial centers for the community for years. And for older adults, the pandemic offered renewed proof of how invaluable libraries were to their livelihood.
What began as a distraction from the day to day, became something more as the pandemic intensified. The longer these older adults had to stay at home, away from each other and from their loved ones, the more they came to rely on these virtual workshops. They read and wrote poems, painted and created collages, expressed their anguish through art. They also found friendship and community. They found relief and a way to speak their mind.
(Originally published on CUNY’s Audio Doc page)