In recent years, the popularity of tabletop games has surged. The Fengyuan Branch of the Central City Library, a library characterized by its focus on serving the senior population, has brought this trend into the lives of older adults. Starting in 2018, with the design concept of “elders serving elders, learning together and having fun together,” the branch planned a series of “Tabletop Games for Senior Citizens” events. For the elderly, playing tabletop games not only stimulates brain activity to slow aging but also helps bridge interaction gaps between parents and children, as well as grandparents and grandchildren.
Currently, the Fengyuan Branch has a collection of over 100 types of tabletop games. Library staff have initiated training for seed senior volunteers, allowing them to find joy in the process, and have arranged community-based tabletop game events to bring the gaming culture into neighborhoods, inviting the public to join in the experience. The ongoing community events are held in Wengzi Community, Xi’an Community, the Changqing Academy’s Vitality Classroom, and Toyota Community.
During the process of promoting tabletop games in the community, the Fengyuan Branch discovered that these games can bring joy and vitality to the lives of senior citizens. For example, at Xi’an Community, participants were all seniors aged 60–70. At first, they were rather unfamiliar and shy with the games, but after the efforts of volunteers and library staff to promote the activity, they not only actively requested a second round of tabletop game courses but also volunteered to try more challenging games.
Additionally, at the Fengyuan Changqing Academy’s Vitality Classroom, a group of seniors with mild to severe dementia were also introduced to tabletop games under the guidance of volunteers, bringing new goals and enjoyment into their otherwise routine lives. Zhang Xiaoling, director of the Central City Library, stated that with the arrival of an aging society, the senior population has become one of the library’s key service groups.
Promoting diverse modes of reading is an important mission in the library’s development of lifelong learning. Just as tabletop games offer a new learning experience for seniors. In the future, once the improvement project for the Fengyuan Senior Library space is completed, it will provide the community with more spaces for shared fun and learning. The library also hopes to start with senior tabletop games and extend diverse reading experiences to communities, schools, families, and our daily lives. For more information about related events, please visit the Central City Library’s official website: http://www.library.taichung.gov.tw/public/.
(China Times)