Why is our project ‘The Forgotten Orchestra’ valuable for our library?
The library, a safe place for all
As we continued working on the project, we were still feeling rather insecure. Was our project valuable enough for the library and the participants? So our changemaker introduced us to our second guide: Simon Sinek. Marketing guru Simon Sinek repeats the same catch-phrase: start with why. “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”. He has a biological explanation for his theory. Everything that is facts and figures (rational things), is part of the neocortex brains. Everything related to intuition, feelings, loyalty, and trust, is part of the limbic brains. And that’s the part that contains the why. Language is neocortex, whilst lack of language is limbic. That’s also where meaning and connection through feeling rise. So even when it is difficult to communicate with people with dementia using language, with feelings of respect and appreciation there’s a new connection.
Whilst working on the project, the insecurity and hesitation about focussing on this specific group in society slowly disappears. We come to the conclusion that a public library should make people with dementia feel welcome and offer them a safe haven. This is a rapidly growing group in our society, who need a place where they can be their selves. Where they are surrounded by people and a collection that make them feel like a part of a greater whole, a part of the library.
The library, a safe place for all.