engleski

Intergenerational Exchange and Dialogue: A Culture of Care in Libraries that Care

The complexity of today’s society changes the traditional paradigm in which older members of society teach the young who are in turn expected to learn and follow the practices they have learned. This one-way, traditional perspective should be replaced with the one that promotes reciprocal relation between different generations of young, adult and elderly, a perspective which is rooted in intergenerational dialogue. Globalization, a complex information landscape and new communication media, demands for new types of literacy, decreasing financial wealth of the population, changes in family and social structures, extended life expectancy—are but a few issues that make up the basis for social marginalization of individuals and social groups and lead to social and emotional separation between children and senior adults. Intergenerational dialogue and the development of social cohesion are needed now more than ever. Libraries as a social resource par excellence bear responsibility for all members of society and should take advantage of their rich infrastructure to develop programs that promote intergenerational understanding and appreciation, mutual support and care. It is therefore important for libraries to explore new models of intergenerational interaction, develop new and evaluate existing programs, mobilize partnerships and, in accordance with their mission use intergenerational programs for establishing reading and literacy links between generations and for community action and development, thus building social cohesion.

Intergenerational dialogue, Social cohesion, Libraries, Young generations, Elderly, Intergenerational programs, Reading, Literacy

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