1. Asen Yosifov 1926 Public Chitalishte in the
village of Gabrovnitsa, Montana District
New Modern Library Services
Training of Elderly People

2. Computers and the internet are powerful
resources creating opportunities for
improving people’s social and economic
well-being. The public library is called upon
to provide free access to computers and
the internet and free training in using
them.

3. By preserving the best traditions and
promoting spiritual values through books and
reading, public libraries have been attracting
citizens’ attention to yet another type of
services – education services – since their
involvement in the Glob@l Libraries – Bulgaria
Program.

4. To respond to all Program requirements, we
reconstructed part of the library and
transformed it into a modern computer room.

5. Following my basic computer literacy
training conducted in Geo Milev District
Library by Daniela Marinova, I decided to
be helpful for the people in Gabrovnitsa
through my knowledge and the
opportunities offered by the computer
room. I decided to conduct training of
elderly people to respond to their
demands. I posted an announcement with a
subscription deadline in the chitalishte.

6. In just a few days, a sufficient number
of applicants showed up and we set up
two groups of four people (corresponding
to the number of workstations in the
room).
Group 1
Group 2

7. In compliance with the lifelong learning policy
and the Glob@l Libraries – Bulgaria Program
objectives, in mid-November 2011, the library
launched two-week training for people aged 50+ in
two modules:
- Work with computers. The Word text-processing
program
- Internet for dummies

8. The first module presented to
participants the structure of the
computer and basic knowledge on file and
folder creation, work with documents.

9. The second module presented the
opportunities offered by the Google search
engine for information search, information
portals like www.dir.bg, the legal portal
www.lex.bg, websites on knitting,
needlework, cooking recipes, Bulgarian
online information resources from all areas of
human activity.

10. This is how our
classes took place

11. My grannies from Group 1

12. A grandpa took part in Group 2 and did a
great job

13. Trainees were motivated to learn by
personal reasons like: self-improvement,
acknowledgement, quality of life or other
people’s respect. They focused on the
practical implementation of their knowledge
in life and expected tangible results from
this process.

14. On the last day of the training, I gave
practical assignments for information
search to all participants; they worked
independently and I summarized and
evaluated the results of the training.

15. GRADUATION
After the two weeks of training, it was time
for all participants to graduate it successfully. All
graduates received participation certificates and a
desktop calendar with the logo of the Glob@l
Libraries – Bulgaria Program and photos of
chitalishte activities.

18. THE SURPRISE
The second graders from Sts. Cyril and Methodius
Primary School in Gabrovnitsa came to congratulate
training graduates. They presented Christmas customs,
sang songs, danced and wished everyone health and
prosperity in the new year.

20. We took pictures as a souvenir

21. These were my first trainees who have made me
proud. I am happy that thanks to the Glob@l
Libraries Program, I was useful for two weeks
and I managed to distract them from their busy
and grey daily routine.

22. The courses conducted in our library to
date reinforce my opinion that there is
active interest in new information
technology and that the library is the place
where basic computer literacy training of
elderly people should take place.

23. All training participants came up with
a suggestion to continue the training with
higher levels of computer competence.
The training gives the elderly self-
confidence, bridges the digital divide between
them and young people and helps them feel
connected to the global world of information.

24. Thank you for your
attention!
Prepared by: Tania Todorova
Asen Yosifov 1926 Public Chitalishte,
Gabrovnitsa