Hello,
My name is Joseph Winberry and along with Kristina Shiroma, we are the co-chairs of the newest addition to the ALA's Social Responsibilities Round Table: The Elder Justice Task Force.
As members of SRRT you recognize the important opportunity that libraries have to help solve social problems and inequities. One type of inequity that often goes unnoticed in our field, however, is that faced by older adults. Due to stigma around age, elders can experience ageism, elder abuse, and intersectional discrimination among other inequities.
In response to these inequities, we and 9 others got together to create this task force because we believe that the fastest growing demographic group in the US (and most of the world) is a dynamic and diverse population who we in library land should do more to engage and serve across the country while also leading our professional association in an increasingly elder-inclusive and anti-ageist direction.
Our task force is small but mighty! If you would like to learn more, please visit our website. There you can learn about our mission, goals, and projected activities. If after reading you wish to add to our might, please fill out this application and we will send you a calendar invite to our next meeting which will be Thursday, October 31 at 12 PM EST (it promises to be a real treat).
Thank you for reading and for all you do every day in your libraries and through SRRT to make the world (and librarianship) better.
Sincerely,
Joseph Winberry and Kristina Shiroma
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Kristina Shiroma
Assistant Professor
Lousiana State University
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