Somerville Public Library One of Ten in Nation to Receive StoryCorps Grant

It should come as no surprise to this city’s residents, but members of this diverse and vital community have a story to tell. And your library is going to help them tell it – thanks to a grant from the American Library Associaton and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which will enable us to launch our own version of the “StoryCorps @ your library” program. StoryCorps is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of Americans from all backgrounds and beliefs. StoryCorps has collected nearly 70,000 interviews from all 50 states. Each interview is recorded on a free CD for participants to take home and share with their loved ones. With permission, a second copy is archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Millions of Americans listen to StoryCorps’ award-winning broadcasts each week on NPR’s "Morning Edition." To catch up on previous stories, click here. As Somerville Public Library moves to become one of the nation’s personal history hubs, the library’s new Teen Center and Local History Collection will anchor the program, by providing participants and information needed to launch the program. We intend to capture life in Somerville from people of all ages, races, orientations and backgrounds. The library will train participants in the use of StoryCorps methods, including learning how to use media equipment, story board and animation, and will keep copies of these valuable oral history documents in the library. The library will also have a visual and audio web portal that will feature rotating stories. The library will be working with community groups -- including the Library Teen Advisory Group, the Somerville Arts Council, the Welcome Project, Somerville High School and the Awesome Box Project -- in this endeavor. Somerville joins the following libraries as members of this pilot program: San Francisco Public Library; Chicago Public Library; Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Libraries, Tampa, Fla.; Octavia Fellin Public Library, Gallup, N.M.; Bellmore Memorial Library, Bellmore, N.Y.; Greensboro Public Library, Greensboro, N.C.; Multnomah County Public Library, Portland, Ore.; Nashville Public Library, Nashville, Tenn.; and Smithville Public Library, Smithville, Texas. See storycorps.org or this press release for more information about the program.