More and more libraries are becoming dementia friendly.

At Puke Ariki in New Plymouth the library provides a dementia friendly book club. The book club focuses on people living with early symptoms of the disease and has met for about five years. It was inspired by research that found reading offers significant benefits for people with neurological conditions.

Dr Sally Rimkeit's 2017 study revealed, not only did reading evoke memories, but it facilitated social connection, self-expression and feelings of self-awareness.

Librarian Louanne Rielly said the trick was choosing subjects members could relate to.

"The goal is to try to get them to interact and discuss some of what we're talking about, so we just kind of go with a topic.

"Sometimes we do a short story, sometimes we just research stuff on the internet, sometimes it's a chapter from a book, and we try and read a bit, talk about something that happened in it and read a bit more."

To find out more about this read the article on RNZ here >

Waimakariri District's population is aging. In the 2023 census, over 20 per cent of the population were over 65, and the number of those living with dementia mate wareware increased too. So, it made sense for Waimakiri libraries to focus on services for this age group and more specifically, services for those living with dementia mate wareware and their whānau.

In August 2024, Learning and Heritage Team Leader, Janina Good, sat down with her team and devised a plan to make Waimakariri Libraries more dementia friendly. Some initiatives were created with community members living with the condition in mind, and others were existing initiatives that needed to be looked at through a dementia friendly lens and tweaked.

One of the main things we introduced was our dementia friendly collection ‘A Suitcase full of Memories’ in September 2024. The collection comprises curated suitcases that evoke memories through items and reading materials. Each suitcase is themed: On the Farm, In the Garden, and At Home. Reconnecting with memories can be a joyful and stimulating experience for people with dementia and provide a tool for friends and whānau to create conversations and make connections.

So far, we have had a handful of people borrow this resource, plenty of positive feedback and even interest from other libraries wanting to do something similar. While the collection was initially housed at Rangiora Library, we have curated a second set of suitcases and spread these to our other locations in Kaiapoi and Oxford. All suitcases can move between the libraries via holds.

Monthly, two of our staff run the Next Chapter Group in collaboration with Dementia Canterbury.  Participation in this group is on a referral basis only. Dementia Canterbury refers people living with dementia mate wareware to the group if they think it may be beneficial to them. At this stage, about 10 people attend each month with varying stages of dementia. The session runs for 90 minutes and aims to be a fun, social time with a range of themed items and objects presented that may evoke memories and invite discussion. Themes so far have been spring, music, gardening, and a day at the races.

Library Assistant Twyla Pearce enjoys hosting the group at Kaiapoi Library. “It’s wonderful to see friendships forming and to learn more about their stories.”

To help start those conversations during the session, they might play bingo, run a quiz, listen to music, sing a song, or use one of our suitcases from our ‘A Suitcase full of Memories’ collection. These initiatives must work well, as Twyla says, there is always lots of talking. On occasion, it has been known to go off topic, but compared to other groups, this is seen as a success as it fulfils the purpose of the group, to create conversations and foster connections.

For those who have not been referred to the Next Chapter Group, Waimakariri Libraries host alternative groups which have a similar focus. For example, we offer Shared Reading Groups on a fortnightly basis. In April 2024, five Waimakariri Libraries team members trained with The Reading Revolution to learn how to plan and run shared reading groups for our hapori (community).

At each session, a library staff member in the role of a Reader Leader reads literature aloud to the group and encourages those attending to respond to what has been read. In response, participants might share thoughts, feelings, or memories the reading evoked. Like the Next Chapter Group, the purpose is to connect with others through conversations, and literature is the aid in this group. 

Although not created specifically for those living with dementia mate wareware, the Reading Revolution project believes "Shared Reading helps us to understand our individual and collective inner lives, round the same table, at the same time.”

The Talking Cafe at Oxford Library is another alternative group on offer where Oxford Health Coach Jan facilitates group conversations over tea or coffee. Discussion ranges from current affairs to personal happenings, and Jan helps guide the conversation when needed.

Outside of our dementia-friendly curated offerings, we decided it was important for our team to consider those living with dementia mate wareware in every aspect of our space. One of the ways we did this was by asking all staff to complete the ‘Dementia Friend’ certification. In the short online course, you learn what dementia is, how to spot it and how best to support those who live with it. You also hear about their individual experiences from those living with dementia mate wareware. Waimakariri Libraries leadership team has now added the training into all future onboarding processes.

Our efforts were officially recognised in December 2024 when Alzheimers New Zealand awarded us ‘Working to Be Dementia Friendly’ status, a category of their Dementia Friendly Recognition Programme. 

Alzheimer's NZ Chief Executive, Catherine Hall, praised Waimakariri Libraries staff for the status: "Being recognised as dementia friendly is a real achievement because it takes a huge amount of time, effort and commitment to your customers and staff.  It has also been a real achievement because you have only worked on this for six months.”

This achievement is far from the end of our journey. As a team we will continue to look through our initiatives and programmes with a dementia friendly lens and tweak them to suit our hapori better.

Image: Joley Ham says book club has provided precious moments to share with mum Geraldine. Credit: RNZ/Robin Martin