A public library

focuses on the intersection of older adults, information technology , and health; boxie@umd.edu. T he number of older adults in the United States is increasing rapidly and will continue to increase as the baby boom generation ages. 1 While contemporary society is becoming increasingly reliant on computers (for convenience, "computers" as used in this article includes the Internet and related applications such as e-mail and e-government), older adults' adoption of this technology lags significantly behind that of younger people. 2 To narrow the generational digital divide, computer training programs have been developed that aim at helping older adults-roughly age fifty-five and older-overcome difficulties in computer learning and use. 3 One of the primary sources of computer training for older adults is the public library, which has become a social leader in providing such training. 4 Public libraries are an ideal site for providing computer access and training for older adults with both formal (i.e., skills acquisition) and informal (i.e., improved sense of well-being) benefits. First, the explicit mission of public libraries is to meet the information and learning needs of patrons. Second, public libraries have PUBLIC LIBRARIES