Erin Similuk
BA ’18
We are a group of nursing students dedicated to improving the lives of the elderly though reading. We work closely with the Chelsea Retirement Community, and are excited to make reading more accessible to them. Through research, we have found that reading is beneficial to the elderly population and allows them to retain some elements of autonomy. Making reading a tangible option for these residents is critical to their health. We are working to provide more large print novels for residents to incorporate into our library so more options would be available. Having more books can also help us to initiate our “Reading Buddies” program. This program will bring volunteer students of both high school and college ages to the retirement center to read with the residents. Our main goal would be to serve residents that have low vision or are blind, and reading to them.
Library Mentor: Pam MacKintosh