BOOMERS AND OTHER GENERATIONS

Boomers

If you are a Boomer…You are in good company. Here are some other (famous) Boomers:
-Cher
-Bono
-Christie Brinkley
-Madonna
-Bill Gates
-Richard Gere
-Sharon Stone
-Denzel Washington
-George Clooney
-President Barack Obama
-Former President George W. Bush

More famous boomers: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/popup?id=2159988


A few words about generalizations and predictions:

Boomers are a huge and diverse group (77+ million born over a span of 18 years)

Any declaration about what Boomers are like or what they want or what their priorities are or what they’ll do, is not going to apply to each and every Boomer.

About Baby Boomers
-They grew up during a time of prosperity, expansion and optimism
-In part because of their numbers and buying power, boomers have had, and still have, great transformative power (for example, with the U.S. educational system)
-Boomers are NOT shy about voicing their opinions and working to change things that are not to their liking (for example, protesting the war in Vietnam, activism, volunteering)
-They’re likely to change retirement and aging as they have changed every other stage of life as they go through it

Some shared events for Boomers:
-Invention of TV
-Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll
-The Space Race
-Assassinations of leaders: JFK, RFK, MLK
-Women’s Lib
-Civil Rights movement
-Vietnam War
-The Pill

Some (more) Boomer characteristics:
-Traditional
-Hard-working
-Competitive
-Question authority
-Idealistic
-Energetic
-Financially secure (historically)
-Educated

Some seeming contradictions here: Being traditional and questioning authority; idealistic despite the assassinations of leaders

New Challenges
Current and future challenges for Boomers include:
-Keeping up with constantly changing technology
-Working with staff of other generations (multiple generations working side by side)
-Some began their careers in 1970s or even earlier
-Some are “sandwiched” between taking care of their parents and their children
-Having enough money for their later years (and they will be living longer than previous generations)
-Concerns over health and heath care costs


Other Generations

-Greatest” Generation (Tom Brokaw’s term) – aka “WWII generation” (born before 1946)
-Baby Boomers - aka “Me generation” (born 1946-1964*)
-Generation X – aka “echo boomers” (born 1965-1977*)
-Millennials – aka “Generation Y” (1977-1994*)
*there is not 100% agreement as to when these generations begin and end



Some Facts About Gen X-ers
-Approx. 50-51 million
-Grew up in times of economic and political uncertainty (recessions of 1970s and ’80s, 1987 stock market crash, end of Vietnam War, fall of Berlin Wall)
-Comfortable with technology
-Informal in dress and communication
-Saw the introduction of personal computers
-May be children of Boomers

Some Facts About Millennials
-Second largest group, after Boomers
(approx. 70 million)
-Grew up with computers
-Less-defined differences between “work” and “not work” time
-Multitasking and constant communication is natural to them
-Even more informal in communication styles than Gen X-ers
-Tend not to read instructions, prefer to figure things out by doing
-May be children of Boomers or of Gen-Xers

Possible challenges to Boomers, of multigenerational workforce
-Boomers moving from a majority to a minority within their profession
-Perceived lack of respect and perhaps conflicts from the public and/or supervisors and/or co-workers
-Boomers may resent having to prove themselves after years in the workforce


Some questions to be addressed by libraries re: Boomer patrons:

What is to be done when different groups of patrons have very different preferences for noise levels in the public library? Are public libraries in danger of pleasing one generation at the expense of another? Is this segregation? Is this self-segregation? One solution is to have separate physical spaces for different age groups (teens, Boomers), divided by walls to keep quiet areas quiet.