How many of you would like to reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s? Whether you are working, looking for work or retired, one of the biggest things you can do to reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s is to continue learning new things to exercise your mind. 

As a retired nutritionist & health promotion educator, I hear some seniors say “I’m too old to learn.” That’s not true. It may take you longer to learn, but never too old to learn. Many studies have confirmed that the human brain has plasticity - The more you exercise it by learning new things, the stronger and better it gets. With that in mind, let me start sharing a gold mine I recently discovered. 

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend and said “on my retirement bucket list is to learn Spanish, but I have not started that yet.” My friend said “you should look into San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), which offers free online language classes.”  As someone who has lived in SF for over 5 decades, this was news to me. I was pleasantly surprised to find that over the years SFPL has transformed into a world class library that provides a plethora of resources, programming and services to the community for all ages. 

Let me share and highlight four lesser known services provided by SFPL, URL:  https://sfpl.org 

From this home page, you can navigate to the different sections below.

1. BOOKS & MEDIA: They have an extensive collection of books, e-books, but did you know that they also provide streaming music, movie and TV? Check it out!
   
   

2. JOBS & CAREERS RESOURCES center:
   Click: Research & Lean/Jobs and Careers Resources
   The Jobs & Careers Center, located on the 4th floor of the Main Library, offers resources to help in job searching, career exploration, and professional development. It features a collection of books on topics like resume writing, interviewing, and networking. Also, the librarians at the Business, Science and Technology Center reference desk are available to assist with job and career-related information.

3. EVENTS & EXHIBITS: Available in a wide range of topics for children to adults at different library branches located throughout the city. For example: Story time for families with young children; One-on-one tutorial with a financial planner for adults; and free admission to museums & exhibits with “Discover & Go” https://sfpl.discoverandgo.net/   

4. e-LEARNING: You can register to attend online courses for FREE, and there’s NO ads using the interactive app. Wow, this is the diamond that I found among all the excellent resources at SFPL. There’s a wide range of classes, from technology (e.g. learning to code) to learning languages. In fact, language courses are offered through 3 different entities: Gale Courses, Manago Languages and Rosetta Stone (offers the most different languages). You can click on the links online to get details about the course and see if it is a good fit for you. Note: You will need a SFPL library card to access these services. 

https://sfpl.org/research-learn/elearning 

I’m so excited to learn about this resource that I registered for a 6-week Speed Spanish course to learn Spanish as a beginner. 

By now, if you don’t have a SFPL card, you probably ask “how do I get one?”  Any California resident is eligible for SFPL card. The application process is easy, free and you can do it online: https://sfpl.libanswers.com//faq/65116

Now that you know about this e-learning resource, go to register for a course to learn something that’s on your bucket list!  You’ll save money, have fun, and reduce the risks for Alzheimer’s. It’s a triple win!