Mansfield Public Library is excited to announce the reveal of our new memory kits. Each memory kit or memory bag is filled with activities centered on a specific theme or a common time frame intended to create conversation among caregivers and a person with cognitive issues. Director of Library Services, Yolanda Botello, states, “Mansfield Public Library always looks for ways to serve our community and these memory kits give us a way to reach out to those in our community with cognitive impairments”. These kits are for caregivers of people with dementia, Alzheimer’s or cognitive impairment and are intended to prompt conversations and familiar memories.
Each kit includes soothing music, a large print book with colorful pictures, interactive activity, and an informational book for caregivers. Themes include, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”, “A Visit to the Beach” and “The Sewing Box”. In addition, the library breaks down the kits into different stages of dementia to include two kits for early stages of dementia, two for mid stage, and two for late stage. Each stage has appropriate materials for the different levels of activity. The kits feature items for patrons to touch, move and reminisce about the past. The kits are easily located in the front of the library and each one checks out for three weeks and can be simply checked out by a library card.
Each kit contains:
- Interactive activity
- Large print book and colorful illustrations that are designed for people with memory loss
- Soothing or nostalgic music
- Caregiver’s Guide to Dementia by Laura Gitlin
- Audiovisual materials
How it works:
- Check it out with your library card!
- Checks out for three weeks
- Can renew up to two additional times if no one is waiting for it and if your account is in good standing
- Kit must be picked up and returned at Mansfield Public Library only.