Enhancing Conversations: Intergenerational Book Discussions

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2019

During the summer of 2018, Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) in Maryland, partnered with the Jewish Council for the Aging’s Heyman Interages® Center (JCA) and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to pilot two Intergenerational Book Discussion Groups (Discussion Group) at MCPL. This innovative program brought together middle school students, JCA staff and senior volunteers (age 50+) and MCPL staff. The pilot program had several goals: to create meaningful, stimulating conversations; to utilize MCPL sites for cross-age programming; to combine with MCPS’ summer reading program for reducing incidence of “summer learning slide;” and to provide students with Student Service Learning (SSL) hours. Each Discussion Group gathered at MCPL branches and focused on its book of choice. The program paired students from different middle schools with JCA senior volunteers; MCPL staff served as facilitators. Each program comprised of three, 1½ hour meetings. The pilot proved to be a multi-faceted success. The meetings promoted understanding of intergenerational perspectives and participants felt free to engage in difficult conversations in a safe environment through the medium of book discussion.