Brooklyn Digital Initiative

About the Initiative

The Brooklyn Digital Initiative is an innovative partnership between Brooklyn Public Library and Lifetime Arts. This 18-month project, with up to 40 programs running between July 2021-July 2022, will advance arts education for older adults throughout Brooklyn in collaboration with local library branches. Programming will be open to all older adults, and will be promoted to NYCHA residents in that demographic. This initiative, made possible through support from The New York Community Trust, will expand the reach and impact of public library services and their community arts partners to an aging, underserved, and growing population.

Programming

First Round (September-December 2021)

For the initiative’s first round of programming, a total of 25 remote creative aging programs have served nearly 600 older adults in Brooklyn through BPL’s Service for Older Adults and throughout the following BPL branches:

  • Annex
  • Arlington
  • Bedford
  • Borough Park
  • Brooklyn Heights
  • Dyker
  • Fort Hamilton
  • Gerritsen Beach
  • Gravesend
  • Highlawn
  • Mapleton
  • Midwood
  • Mill Basin
  • New Utrecht
  • Red Hook
  • Sheepshead Bay
  • Spring Creek
Second Round (April-July 2022)

For the initiative’s second round of programming, Lifetime Arts trained an additional 11 librarians to implement 15 more remote and in-person creative aging programs through the Brooklyn Public Library’s Service for Older Adults and throughout the following BPL branches:

  • Greenpoint 
  • Mill Basin
  • Sunset Park

Read our blog post, “Brooklyn Digital: Connecting Through Creative Aging” Serves as a Remote, Anti-Isolation Program Model for Public Library Systems,” to learn more about this initiative and how creative aging programming has impacted older adult participants, teaching artists, and public library branches throughout Brooklyn.

A Professional Development Opportunity for BPL Librarians

A core component of this initiative is to offer professional development to BPL branch librarians. This training will prepare library programming staff to plan, promote, and implement remote creative aging programs. Library staff interested in coordinating programs for their branches will be eligible to do so. All other programs in the series will be hosted by BPL’s Services for Older Adults.

Librarians and library staff will be introduced to the creative aging field including current research that underpins best practices, as well as its history and background. Participants will analyze and evaluate their own ideas about aging and how that informs their work with older adults, and will experience best practices in remote programming through participation in a remote artmaking workshop. Additionally, librarians will be trained to support remote creative aging programs; surveying patrons to plan responsive programming; identify, work and plan with teaching artists; recruit and market for online creative aging programs as well as documentation and evaluation best practices.

A Professional Development Opportunity for New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and Department for the Aging (DFTA) Staff

WEBINAR, Wednesday, May 12, 10-11am ET

Alleviating the Effects of Social Isolation through Creative Aging Programming: A Conversation with Lifetime Arts

Access Recording via Zoom

NYCHA and DFTA staff members were invited to attend a 1-hour mini-masterclass in alleviating the effects of social isolation through creative aging programming with Lifetime Arts co-founder/CEO, Maura O’Malley and Deputy Director, Nathan Majoros. During the webinar, O’Malley and Majoros:

  • Provided an overview of the creative aging field
  • Outlined the program model
  • Shared case stories illustrating best practices relevant to serving the NYC population

The event included ample time for Q&A.