Exploring the informational and recreational needs of the elderly: Library users in Temperance Town, South Africa

The need to access and use information is necessary in all stages of our physical and mental development. Although most elderly people continue to lead productive and active lives beyond retirement, they are often a neglected group of library users, treated with little dignity and respect. Temperance Town, Gordon’s Bay Library in Western Cape, South Africa is one of the “previously disadvantaged” community libraries that was affected by the injustices and discriminatory laws propagated by the apartheid government. As a result, a majority of the elderly persons in this community had very limited opportunities to obtain skills and education during their productive years. The elderly who are retired have more leisure time to pursue recreational activities such as reading more at this stage of their lives (Wilkinson 2015:26). Triggered by the need to provide insights on how to improve collection development at libraries, tailoring it to the needs of the elderly in South Africa, this article used quantitative research methodology and a triangulation of data collection tools to investigate the recreational and information needs of the elderly at Temperance Town