School libraries inspiring intergenerational reading
Category: Blog, SLG Scotland
by Shelagh Toonen, Elgin Academy Librarian and SLG Scotland committee member
Elgin Academy Community Reading Project with Anderson’s Care Home
The inter-generational reading project with Elgin Academy and Anderson’s Care Home in Elgin is now in its second year and we aim for it to be a sustainable and long-lasting partnership. This voluntary opportunity for senior cohorts is offered as an SQA Wider Achievement Award through our Gold Reading Schools programme. I created the project, after meetings with the DYW Moray co-ordinator and with Moray Libraries staff and visits with the staff in Anderson’s Care Home to plan the project. All partners were and continue to be enthusiastic. I support the pupils each week, both during the weekly visits to the care home and online via a Microsoft Team.
The reading project began in June 2023 with a dance. Or, two or three boogies, plus milkshakes and cookies. Our group of senior pupils had a great first meet and greet with residents in the outdoor garden, which included dancing with a local group. Books were shared and there was great chat between our reading pupils and the residents. Reading outside, making new friends and sunshine were a perfect combination. One of the residents in Anderson’s Care Home told our reading group: “Grab happiness and smiles when you can,” which they loved and have remembered.
Our pupils, prior to their first visit and meeting the residents, share mini-biographies of themselves with the staff at Anderson’s and they visit Elgin Public Library to select books. The pupils choose a selection of books to share with their reading buddies and all think carefully about these and they discuss their choices with me. The books include poetry; picture books; memories of Moray and a selection of novels. Once they are comfortable and engaged with the project, the pupils request different books for their reading friends and these have included books about different countries and books about the local countryside.
One of the highlights for our group was hearing how one of the residents met local writer Jessie Kesson, in the 1940s, in Elgin’s Ladyhill Lane. Sharing a copy of The White Bird Passes delighted her. The pupils read and enjoyed passages from the book and all enjoyed a lively discussion about the characters and life in Elgin during the 1940s and 1950s.
This partnership and project has created social interactions and shared experiences which have benefitted everyone involved. Our young people gain more confidence after spending time with the residents and they form connections and make new friends. All improve their communication skills and some show increased confidence and self-esteem. There is increased empathy and respect for older people from our pupils, by being around them and learning more about them and it is wonderful to hear our pupils talk enthusiastically about their time in Anderson’s Care Home each week. They also learn about the past, about their own area in days gone by and about events from before they were born. This and the book sharing and chat, all create learning opportunities. All in Elgin Academy, who participate in the weekly visits, love it. This year, we had to cap the numbers, because of the number of pupils who requested to be a part of the project and this was definitely a lovely problem to have!
Our group is encouraged to participate in events in the care home and these have included Halloween; Christmas and themed days; as well as activities provided by other partners of Anderson’s Care Home. In November 2024, the school invited the residents to Elgin Academy for a Soup and Sweet event, organised by the school’s Team Bean Wider Achievement Group and this successful event was followed by a school staff Soup and Sweet fundraiser lunch. The funds raised were given to the care home for activities. At the end of the academic year and at the culmination of the session’s project, the pupils give flowers to their reading friends from Elgin Academy and, in return, the staff in Anderson’s share biscuits with our pupils.
This project has become a very special one for all involved and strong connections have been made between the pupils and the residents and staff in Anderson’s Care Home. One of our S6 pupils was keen to visit the resident she read to after she left school and has said she sees this resident as a special friend. She went on to say that she has felt she has come on a journey since this project began with Anderson’s and that she has learned so much from her friend there.
More information about the project and photos can be seen on the school website.
