Mind Alive: a Dementia Friendly Collection created by our member, Melinda Short at Bathurst Library Shortlisted for NSW Library and Information Excellence Award.

‘It won’t change dementia, but I hope in a small way that it can reduce some stigma and most importantly, improve the quality of life for people living with dementia, their carers, family and friends’. -Melinda Short, USU member and Librarian.

A huge congratulations to long term member Melinda Short for being a shortlisted nominee in the recent NSW Library and Information Excellence Awards. Mel was nominated for her Mind Alive Dementia Friendly Collection at Bathurst Library in the Central West region.

For over 10 years Mel has been a Librarian at Bathurst Regional Council, mainly working in the Home Library Service. It is a job she loves because it allows her to follow her passion for accessible learning and community connection. As explained by Mel, it is about ‘bringing the library to those who can’t or usually wouldn’t be able to get there in person.’

‘Connection is so important. I love not only providing things for people to do but bringing people together that may not usually meet’

Before Mind Alive, dementia resources in the Central West region were generally for carers and workers rather than being dementia friendly or specifically for people living with dementia, their carers and their families.

Mel presenting at the Mind Alive collection’s launch

Mel knew the lack of resources was not due to a lack of need. Delivering library materials to private homes, aged care facilities, retirement facilities and daycare centres for years had given Mel firsthand experience of the dementia decline many times.

Then, her beloved Dad was diagnosed with dementia before passing away from unrelated health issues in July 2023. His cognitive decline was fast and made his last few months very challenging for Mel and her family. Her Dad had always been an active Mr Fixit who loved motorbikes, his dogs and chess but dementia made those things too hard.

Spending lots of time with her Dad, Mel realised that using the things he loved as a foundation and adapting or simplifying them to accommodate his needs and letting him reminisce freely worked best. Further, a love of reminiscence and sharper recall of earlier memories were both things she’d noticed people living with dementia doing at the library and in nursing homes. Mel was further inspired when visiting Newcastle Library’s Memories Room.

While the seeds of what would become Mind Alive had been sown, they were stunted by a lack of funding – until the library received a donation.  Coming from a member of the community, the donation was to fund a service that did not already exist and would address a community need.

Once chosen, Mel was assisted by fellow librarians to make the collection a reality – including our own Central West BCOM Secretary and long term member Jane Goudge-Cook.

Mel with other shortlisted nominees for the NSW Library & Information Excellence Award.
Mel is third from the left.

For more than a year, Mel and her team worked tirelessly to not just bring the collection to life but designed in such a way that even after the funding ran out it could continue to be developed and expanded upon.

While developing the collection, Mel and her team did a lot of training and research and worked closely with organisations such as Dementia Australia and Dementia Support Australia.

Once the collection was developed, resources were trialled extensively in the community to ensure they were effective and accessible for their target audience.

Mind Alive: Dementia Friendly Collection launched with a lot of enthusiastic support from the Bathurst community, support workers and service providers. Since then, it has maintained a high loan rate and continues to receive consistent positive feedback. The Mind Alive collection is available online here Mind Alive Dementia Friendly Collection Bathurst Library