Award-winning program brings infants, librarians into Edmonton seniors' residences

An expanding intergenerational program, that has infants and their parents singing songs and listening to stories at retirement residences and long-term care facilities, has received an award from Alberta's municipalities minister.

Edmonton Public Library (EPL) started running Together We Grow sessions last year, after a request for a mom and tots program at Rutherford Heights Retirement Residence in south Edmonton.

The library plans to extend the reach of the program, which was recently recognized with an excellence and innovation award from Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver.

"Every time a young child hugs an older adult in the community and your heart softens, that's a very visceral representation of just how much this program is helping achieve its own goals and build up those positive relationships within the community," said Benjamin Ehlers, a digital literacy librarian with EPL's Mill Woods branch.

The sessions allow young people without grandparents nearby to connect with seniors, he said. It also brings services to growing parts of the city without library branches and help seniors rekindle theirchildhood memories.

WATCH | Bonding through the generations:

Babies bond with seniors at award-winning library program

21 days ago

Duration 2:18

Edmonton Public Librarys new Together We Grow program brings together infants, parents and seniors at retirement homes. The program recently received an award from Albertas municipal affairs minister recognizing excellence and innovation.

The library consulted with community members and learned about the growing popularity of intergenerational programs in Australia before designing its own program, Ehlers said. The library has used existing resources and staff to run Together We Grow.

EPL's Irina Demko led a group of seniors, parents and infants through a session on Thursday morning in a carpeted room at Rutherford Heights. Together, they sang songs, listened to music, read from picture books and shook egg shakers.

Some seniors sat silently during the session. Others tapped their feet to the rhymes, smiled and sang along. After the formal program, the parents spent some time introducing theirchildren to some of the seniors, whose faces lit up.

Lemi Emran brought her son, Zayd, who just turned one and is learning to walk.

"My grandparents don't live in the city, so it's nice to just be able to expose them to other people," Emran said.

Rutherford Heights resident Larry George, 82, waved a yellow scarf to catch the toddler's attention. George, who taught physicaleducation to junior high school students for 30 years and had two children of his own, said he enjoys seeing the little ones' vitality and energy during the sessions.

"The people running the program are really demonstrative and so enthusiastic," he said.

Ehlers, of EPL, said the library has received positive survey results from program participants, and a postal code analysis revealed parents were travelling long distances to attend the sessions.

One family, he said, travelled from Stony Plain, Alta., about 35 kilometres west of Edmonton, which Ehlers found "really surprising and incredibly validating."

He said the minister's award is an opportunity to share the program with other libraries across the province.

"At the end of the day, we wanted to make sure that what we were doing here is replicable," he said.

Parents can register for the free sessions online.