About Tales and Travel Memories

Tales & Travel was originally designed in 2008 for people living in memory care or other assisted living facilities.  Creator Mary Beth Riedner had just resigned from her position as University Librarian for Roosevelt University in Chicago, IL in order to spend quality time with her husband with a young onset dementia.  She wondered what libraries were doing to serve their patrons living with dementia.  The only resource that she could find were the Guidelines for Library Services to Persons with Dementia published by the International Federation of Library Services (IFLA) in 2007.  Motivated by this resource, she offered to bring a book and reading program as a volunteer to a local residential memory care community.  Tales & Travel Memories was born.

In 2011, Riedner began a partnership with the Gail Borden Public Library (GBPL) in Elgin, IL.  Within a few years, the Tales & Travel Memories program was being brought to 12 memory care facilities in the Elgin area.  Under the leadership of library staff, several grants were obtained to develop a website and conduct a research study into the benefits of the program. Together, Riedner and the GBPL staff began writing articles and presenting at library conferences to inform other librarians about the benefits of the program for those living with dementia.  (More details about these efforts can be found below.)

After the death of her husband in 2014, Riedner began spending her winters in Arizona.  There she brought Tales and Travel programs as a volunteer to several Memory Cafés in the Phoenix area.  When the pandemic hit in 2020, one of these Cafés made a quick pivot to a virtual platform. Riedner decided to migrate to a digital version of Tales & Travel, dubbed “Tales & Travel Adventures”.  In May, 2020 the Adventures began with a first visit to Chicago.  Over time, additional Adventures were created.  There are now 17 Tales & Travel Adventures, with more in development.

In April, 2025, the Gail Borden Public Library passed on the ownership and administration of the Tales & Travel website to Mary Beth Riedner.

Grants and Awards Received

Tales & Travel is an award-winning program and has received several grants and awards, including:

Grants Available

In 2022, the Stephen T. Riedner Grant for Life Enhancing Library Programs for People Living with Dementia was established.  The RUSA Division of the American Library Association presents two annual ongoing grants of $2,500 each and a citation to two libraries to support the development of services and programming to directly serve those living with dementia.

Articles

American Library Association.  2024. “Library Services for Dementia/Alzheimer’s: Reader’s Advisory Tool.”  Accessed December 6, 2024.  https://www.ala.org/advocacy/diversity/services-alzheimers.

Dai, Jiamin, Joan C. Bartlett, and Karyn Moffatt.  2021. “Library Services Enriching Community Engagement for Dementia Care:  The Tales & Travels Program at a Canadian Public Library as a Case Study.”  Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 55, no. 1 (December 29): 1-14.  https://doi.org/10.1177/09610006211065170 .

Dankowski, Terra.  2015. “Stimulating Minds: Libraries Develop Programs to Serve Patrons with Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia.”  American Libraries 46, no. 1-2 (January/February): 54-57.  https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2015/02/09/stimulating-minds/

Lytle, Miriam.  2016. “Tales and Travel: Developing Community Partnerships to Expand Library Services.”  Project Target Award Final Report.  National Network of Libraries of Medicine: Greater Midwest Region.  April 14, 2016.  http://talesandtravelmemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NNLM-Final-Report-and-approval.pdf 

Mortensen, Helle Arendrup and Gyda Skat Nielsen.  2007. Guidelines for Library Services to Persons with Dementia.  IFLA Professional Reports, Nr. 104. The Hague: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.  https://repository.ifla.org/bitstreams/397f6b73-a00d-4bc1-b2c1-b9f53bb8bd04/download.

Riedner, Mary Beth, Tysha Shay, and Kayla Kuni.  2020a. “Serving a Forgotten Population: Those with Alzheimer’s & Other Dementias.”  The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion 4, no. 1: 84-93.  https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 .

Riedner, Mary Beth.  2020b. “Virtual Tales & Travel Adventures.” Programming Librarian.   American Library Association.  July 29, 2020.  https://programminglibrarian.org/programs/virtual-tales-travel-adventures.

Riedner, Mary Beth, Karen Maki, and Miriam Anderson Lytle. “Serving People with Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Excellent 21st Century libraries must reach underserved and isolated populations.” Strategic Library 7 (July 15, 2014): 8-10.   https://www.libraryspot.net/SL/SL_July14_2.pdf

Smrokowska-Reichman, Agnieszka, Edyta Janus, Jeannette Tamplin, et al. 2024.  “The HOMESIDE Study – A Research Project to Support People Living with Dementia and their Family Caregivers: Preliminary Report on Reading Intervention.” Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine 10:1-12.  https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214241239174 .

Library Services for Dementia/Alzheimer’s (LSDA)

More information can be found at the American Library Association’s Library Services for Dementia/Alzheimer’s (LSDA) Interest Group.  The purpose of LSDA is to support librarians who serve patrons living with dementia and their care partners by providing a forum for discussion and networking.  LSDA connects librarians with resources, news and best practices for serving patrons with dementia.  Go to their Resources Page for specific information and ideas.  Of special interest is LSDA’s  Non-Fiction Reader’s Advisory Form for people living with dementia that was developed in 2024 and posted on the LSDA website.  It includes not only tips for using the form, but also tips for choosing the most appropriate books for people living with dementia.