Do you like to meet new people? Are you a good listener? Maybe you are passionate about local history, or the arts, or politics. If any of these describe you, allow me to introduce an exciting new project at the 115th Street Library.
Working with experts in oral history, we hope to capture some of the diverse and unique stories of Harlem residents, both long time and recent Alexandra Kelly, of NYPL's outreach division, formerly of StoryCorps, summarizes the project's goals this way: "The oral history project, at the 115th Street branch library, aims to both preserve and document Harlem neighborhood history through the stories of people who have experienced it. " Ms. Kelly played an important role in Jefferson Market's very successful program.
Contact us now at 115stbranch@nypl.org or 212-666-9393 if you would like to contribute in any way. In mid- April we will begin training volunteers to conduct interviews of people from the surrounding neighborhood. We hope that these volunteers will also help identify neighbors with stories to share. Storytellers will receive a copy of their story as a CD; interviews will be available in a public archive and on the New York Public Library website.
We have scheduled our first volunteer orientation on Wednesday April 9 at 6 p.m. at the 115th Street Library, 203 W. 115th Street. Watch this blog as more details unfold; visit the branch page for related events. Become a part of living history.