Member Highlight

This month our member highlight is Timothy Dickey. Thanks Timothy, for agreeing to be featured!

What is your current job position? 

My current position is an Adult Services Librarian with the Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Libraries. I also teach graduate LIS courses for Kent State University, San Jose State University, and the Catholic University of America - core courses, and courses in library technology, reference services, and humanities/ music librarianship.

How did you become interested in the role that libraries can play in providing services and programs to those living with dementia?

My interest in the role that libraries can play in providing services and programs to those living with dementia rose from a lengthy personal experience of caregiving (which just concluded this month), and a desire to learn from the experience and to strengthen all of us in the professional community, and personally, who are facing the epidemic of this disease.

I understand that you have developed a staff training course for librarians in the Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Libraries.  Can you tell us more about this course?

The Columbus Metro Libraries, as part of an initiative to increase staff awareness of service issues and the needs of different under-served populations, asked me to develop a brief training course for public services staff about patrons with cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's and related dementias, as well as their caregivers. The emphasis is on basic information about the scope of the disease, the warning signs, best practices in communication and service to sufferers at different stages of dementia, as well as information resources and bibliography (such as these lists) for staff and care partners.

You have recently conducted a webinar and online course for ALA.  Please tell us about these endeavors.

I have also offered an informational webinar for library professionals through ALA eLearning, and a 4-week online course that takes a deeper look at the various ways different libraries and cultural memory institutions have offered programs for those living with dementia and their caregivers. The main take-away from the longer course is brainstorming among the course participants for their own program, whether a new idea or an adaptation of an existing program such as Tales & Travel, Memory Cafes, or Music & Memory.

How do you envision that libraries can help to improve the quality of life for those living with dementia in the future?

My hope and desire for libraries moving forward in service to those living with dementia is that we all can share more, and support one another more. We know how to offer good customer service, and how to plan adult programs, and how to make book and resource suggestions. Many libraries and many individuals are innovating in tailoring those services to the specific needs of this group of people; some groups of libraries and even states are even working to collaborate in programs and in training outreach librarians or even branch specialists ("Purple angels"). I'd love to see the sense of community continue to grow as we share our ideas and experiences, and our stories of every small use of books and reading as a "non-pharmacological intervention."

What do you do for fun when you are not working on all these worthwhile projects?

For fun and self-care: cooking is my therapy, as well as history and historical fiction, choral music, a one-eyed rescue Pug, and my beautiful wife.

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