Seniors Housing
Jock Mackenzie | Article & Photos
Finding Comfort in a Good Book
Comfort ? Curling up with a good book . Discomfort ? Not being able to see the print in your book . Solution ? Large-print books !
About a year ago , I began a quest to see if large-print books were available in local seniors ’ homes . ( On my journey , I discovered it ’ s a province-wide concern .) In many cases , books with oversized print were lacking . Some facilities had a few , but they were nearly as old as the residents . The public library did have a program where they would bring a batch of large-print books and exchange them after a few months . With COVID-19 , this program was suspended .
The beauty of being a retired teacher — and being one who still lives where he taught for thirty-one years — is that former students often hold responsible positions in the community . In this instance , a former student alerted me to a program offered by his employer , and after a bit of paperwork , voila ! — I received a $ 2,500 grant .
Prior to receiving the grant , I had to find an official organization to be aligned with . Red Deer ’ s Bridges Community Living was happy to oblige . ( Bridges oversees eleven subsidized senior living facilities .)
Where to find the books ? Our local senior resource centre had no large-print books , but put out the call to see if any seniors had some to offer . Our terrific second-hand bookstore had a few titles — but hardly enough . The mainstream bookstores had a limited supply on hand , but there were many , many more online . But expensive ! Hmmm ? What to do ?
A little bird ( can ’ t remember who ) told me that a book vendor serving school libraries had both a spring and a fall sale , where books normally selling for $ 40 were going for less than half price . Bonanza ! And then another bird told me about an online book outlet that takes books back from stores , adds an almost imperceptible mark with a felt pen to indicate it was a “ return ,” and then sells them at a deep discount . Double bonanza !!
The money was in hand , books at reasonable prices were available , and the next step was deciding what titles to order . The eclectic approach seemed best — a bit
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