|
Special
Resources - New & Updated 2008 |
These two documents are
complementary and designed to assist families and
older adults in finding resources for successful and
healthy aging. The Emeritus College Senior Resource
Directory lists agencies by service categories and
also by an alphabetical list of local agencies. The
Quick Reference Guide is organized by the type of
need an older adult has and agencies that can help.
Paper versions will be available shortly; click on
links above to see the online versions of each.
Volunteers have been selecting
materials to meet individual interests and delivering
them to Santa Monica residents confined at home and in
health
care or retirement facilities since 1973. Any
Santa Monican who has
difficulty coming to the Library
or carrying books because of age, illness, temporary or
permanent disability can be served.
All materials
that can be borrowed by walk-in patrons can be
checked out
for our homebound Library users.
Homebound patrons do not need a Library
card to
receive this entirely free service. To sign up,
please call 310-458-8646.
Click here
for information on becoming a volunteer with the Shut-In
Service. You can also contact us via email
at
Shut.In@smgov.net.
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Large Print Book
Collection |
If you have difficulty reading the
small type typical of most printed material,
you may be
interested in our large print book collection. The
Library
subscribes to several large print standing order
plans and acquires
bestsellers, biographies, and other
quality fiction and nonfiction books as quickly as they
become available in large print format. Many large print
books are purchased in paperback because they are
lighter and usually
easier to handle.
The large
print collection at the New Main Library is located
on the
first floor at the west wall behind the
Information Desk. There are
also large print book
collections at each of the library branches, the Ken Edwards
Center, 1527 Fourth St. and a smaller collection at the
Senior Recreation
Center, 1450 Ocean Ave.
Patrons with visual and/or physical
impairments, who participate in the
Library of Congress'
Talking Books Service through the Braille Institute
in
Los Angeles, may be able to receive equipment and/or
Talking Book
cassettes on an interim, emergency basis
only as available from the
Ocean Park Branch. For more information, call the
branch at 310-392-3804.
|
Ken Edwards
Center Reading Collection |
The Ken Edwards Center Reading collection is a
collaborative project
of the Santa Monica Public
Library and the Ken Edwards Center, a public
facility owned and operated by the City of Santa
Monica. Approximately
200 books including popular
fiction and new nonfiction titles (about half
are in
large print) are available to be signed out (a
library card is not
necessary) for two weeks at a
time.
The Ken Edwards Center is located at
1527 Fourth Street. It is open
from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m. Monday through Thursday and every other
Friday from
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Friends of the Santa Monica Public Library - raise
funds and support many valuable Library collections
and services. If you would like to help in their
bookstore and other activities, call 310-458-8608.
Shut-In Service -
volunteers, who are interested in books and people,
can
directly aid Santa Monica's homebound residents.
Volunteers
regularly select and deliver library
materials several hours every two
weeks. Visits may vary
from a few minutes to thirty minutes or more and
are
eagerly anticipated by our homebound patrons. For more
information,
call 310-458-8646. For other volunteer
opportunities within the City of
Santa Monica
click
here.
|
Equipment
for Special Needs at the Main Library |
Available at the second floor Reference Desk, Main
Library offers public
access to a TTY/TDD-equipped
telephone, magnifying sheets, 8 1/2 by 11
inches
that can be signed out to use in the Library, and
the Optelect,
Visual Enlargement machine.
A
special keyboard with letters, digits, etc. in large
font, plus a "roller" trackball mouse with left,
right and center (double) click capability is now
available for searching the Library's online
catalog. It's located on the Main Library's first
floor at the end-of-range catalog station closest to
the Large Print collection.
Books Plus . .
.
Many books, periodicals, and reference
materials of particular interest to
seniors are
available. Subjects include health and nutrition, estate
planning, retirement, finance, jobs, travel, arts and
literature, and
consumer information. Nonfiction
materials and periodicals are located
on the second floor, fiction on the
first floor. The New Books gondolas,
located just inside the 601 Santa Monica Blvd. entrance
at Main Library,
holds
bestsellers of all kinds.
Audiovisual
collections, located on the Main Library's
first floor, have
many materials that may be of
particular interest to seniors. Books-on-
cassette and
books-on-CD, classic and contemporary titles, are
available
to check out for four weeks at a time. Sound
Recordings of popular and
classical music and compact
discs can be checked out for four weeks
at a time.
The
Main Library offers DVDs and videos of new and
old popular feature
films, Shakespearean plays, opera,
travel, and a variety of other
documentaries. There's
also an extensive collection of closed-captioned
videos.
Up to 5 video titles and 3 DVDs may be checked out from
the
Main Library for 7 days (no renewals).
Please note: Branch libraries
may have different number
limits on their audiovisual
collections.
Programs of Interest at the
Main Library
The Library is one of 12 partner
libraries in the California Center for the
Book, a
state affiliate of the Library of Congress' Center
for the Book.
This partnership supports special
author, and other book programs. For
more
information, check the
California Center
for the Book web
site.
The Library offers a number of author
appearances, book signings,
informative workshops
and other events, focusing on a wide variety of
topics
and interests. The Library also now
offers several free monthly movie
screenings in the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Auditorium, including musicals,
movie classics, and
a Book-To-Movie discussion series that features a
movie screening and a discussion of the book it was
based on. Be sure to keep
an eye on our
calendar page
for a listing of current and upcoming events.
Other Library
Services
Information and Referral - The Main
Library's Reference Services provides
an extensive range
of specialized directories and referral information
about agencies, services, education, and other subjects
of interest to
senior citizens.
Forms - Income
tax forms are available online at all library locations
and
voter registration forms are also available. Ask for
other forms of interest
at the Reference
Desk.
Telephone Reference - Questions requiring brief
responses are answered
by librarians in the Main
Library Reference Department Mon.-Thurs. 10 a.m.
to
9 p.m.; Fri. and Sat. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and
Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.
The number to call is
310-434-2608.
Catalog Assistance - Call 310-458-8614 during Main
Library service hours to check if a book you want is
in.
Staff will pull the item while you wait on the phone
line and put it
on "Will
Call." It will be held for you up to 24
hours and can be picked up at the
Customer Services
Desk.
