Jackson-Madison Co. Library has new devices to help older adults connect with their family

JACKSON, TN (WNBJ) - The City of Jackson and the Jackson-Madison County Library partnered together for an AARP grant.

With the grant, the library was able to purchase ten Facebook Portals, which are similar to a large cell phone.

The portals can be checked out by seniors 65 and older in order to connect them with family members virtually through Facebook.

Users can also use these devices to play music or display images.

The library director says she knows the pandemic affected many people’s mental health because they couldn’t see their families and believes the Facebook Portals will better help seniors connect with their families.

“The library has three focuses, we focus on technology, literacy, and community and this is a way to build community is by helping our citizens to be able to connect with others,” said Dinah Harris, the Director at the Jackson-Madison County Library.

The library will have five Facebook Portals to lend out to library cardholders.

They also were able to supply five Facebook Portals to the local assisted living centers.

These five devices will travel to different assisted living centers throughout the city to help the elderly, who can not travel to the library.