Catalyst Grant Final Report
“Adult Memory Care Collection”
Please provide a brief narrative explaining your project and its outcomes.
Maxwell Memorial Library has been working to increase our resources for our ever-growing older community of lifelong patrons. While large print books, digital ebooks and eaudiobooks, and programming related to health, hobbies, and literacy fill a need, we want to provide tools to assist family and caregivers who are trying to help their aging loved ones remain active and engaged as long as possible. We see this as a continuation of providing relevant and exciting services to our patrons throughout all stages of their lives.
The CLRC grant awarded $2000 toward the purchase of Stay Sharp Memory Care Kits. These kits, compiled by the Penworthy Company, contain books, games, puzzles, and more to support meaningful interaction among older adults and their families and friends. They cover a variety of interests ranging from history and hobbies to exercise and travel. Each kit comes in a large plastic carrying case, making it easy to keep track of the components. Kits can be borrowed by adults 18 and older with a library account in good standing.
To date, the kits have been used primarily by families and caregivers. Our outreach coordinator has also used three of the kits in her visits to a senior living apartment complex, where the puzzles and games in the kits made for a fun and interactive community gathering.
We spread the word about the new collection through a press release in the local community newspaper, as well as through our newsletter and social media. As awareness of the collection spreads, we hope that more families will utilize the kits.
What is the most remarkable accomplishment or finding of your project?
The kits will continue to be useful in our senior outreach and are a great addition to our outreach toolkit. We are also happy to see families who borrow an initial kit return to borrow others, indicating that they appreciate the value of the kits. There’s also the “wow!” factor—the reaction of patrons who see the kits for the first time and are amazed that the library provides such a fun resource for borrowing.
How did your project differ from what you originally proposed?
Shortly after receiving the CLRC Catalyst Grant and starting the Memory Care Kit Collection, we received a Mini-Grant from the Onondaga County Public Library for various literacy projects. We used a portion of this grant to add three Launchpads for adults from Playaway Products. Launchpads are tablets with preloaded software for games, puzzles, and trivia designed to challenge and train memory, attention span, problem solving, observation skills, and more. They are the perfect complement to the Stay Sharp kits.
We also received a monetary donation in memory of a former employee. Her family asked that the donation be used to add to the Memory Care Collection. This allowed us to purchase more Stay Sharp kits than we originally planned for.
Please provide a brief summary of your evaluation activities and/or results, if available.
We are keeping track of circulation of the kits as well as monitoring feedback from those who use them. So far, all feedback has been positive. The kits have circulated approximately 20 times since they were catalogued five months ago (mid-November 2025-mid-April 2026). Most kits have been borrowed 1 to 3 times, and just a few have not been borrowed yet.
Anything else you’d like us to know?
I want to thank CLRC for providing the opportunity to start this collection. Adding materials of this sort to our Library of Things has been a longtime goal and it would not have happened at this time without the financial support from the Catalyst Grant.
Rena Brower
Library Assistant/Adult Services Coordinator, Maxwell Memorial Library
Are you interested in applying for a Catalyst Grant? Check out the grant page for the rules & requirements!
