The Portland Public Library is hosting a series of grant-funded community discussion groups based on “Being Mortal,” a popular nonfiction book by Atul Gawande that explores complex end-of-life experiences.

Through the groups, the library is developing a discussion guide to help seniors and their families use Gawande’s book as a tool to prompt important conversations that are cropping up more frequently in Maine because it has a rapidly aging population.

“The goal of the guide is to give people a way to start some very difficult discussions,” said Lisa Joyce, outreach librarian.

Most of the 15 discussion groups are being held privately with residents of senior living facilities, Joyce said. Two of the discussion groups will be open to the public: 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Rines Auditorium at the main branch on Congress Street; and 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Peaks Island Branch Library.

The community discussions and development of the guide are funded by a $8,500 grant from the John T. Gorman Foundation. The guide will be posted on the library’s website when it’s complete early next year.

Maine is the oldest state based on median age (43.5 years) and the second-oldest based on the proportion of people age 65 and older (17 percent), according to the U.S. Census. Florida is No. 1 with 18.2 percent.

Maine also has the highest proportion of baby boomers – 29 percent of its 1.3 million residents were born in the period from 1946 to 1964. By 2030, more than 25 percent of Mainers will be 65 or older.

One of the library’s most popular books, “Being Mortal” explores how the quest to prolong life has made many people more fearful of death, said Executive Director Sarah Campbell. Gawande invites more open conversations on how seniors and their families, doctors and caregivers can return deeper meaning to the last years of life.

“This is clearly a conversation that is resonating in the community and within families across Maine,” Campbell said.

Copy the Story Link