KV Library Story Bridge connects communities

KEENE VALLEY | A Story Bridge project has emerged from the Adirondack Community: Stories of Who We Are, the cache of oral history now 220 voices strong in Keene, New York. Expansion of the unique, online catalog of oral history has reached into Bear River Valley Stories, Tremonton City, Utah, and into the Native community of Niraqutaq Qallermcinek in Igiugig, Alaska. Co-founder and collaborator of the Keene Valley Library Association project, Jery Huntley said she is thrilled with the way Story Bridge is growing. She took time last week to talk about the multifaceted approach to curating oral tradition, even as she prepared to present a talk on the start-up of Adirondack Stories and Story Bridge to the Association of Rural and Small Libraries at a conference in Reno, Nevada on Oct. 20. Huntley had just given a similar talk for Essex County Historian's Day via teleconference for the Essex County Historical Society. "Accessibility and digital outreach are integral to having a successful library and vibrant community programs," she said in an interview. "We have now created three components of the online platform. The first is the "MyAdirondackStory", which now has over 220 local stories. The second is "StoryBridge" which provides online resources to teach other libraries or historical societies how to establish a similar project for their community. The third is the "Teacher's Guide", which brings all of these resources into an education rubric for teachers to use in a classroom." Oral history collection has also been formalized in a project launch at the Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society, she said. "It is called North Elba Narratives," Huntley said, having recently met with historians in the town that encompasses Lake Placid. The Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society received a Local Enhancement and Advancement Fund (LEAF) grant to fund the oral history tech project. "Huntley started this project in collaboration with the Keene Valley Library Association, naming their program 'My Adirondack Story', and has shared her vision with other organizations across the country," the Historical Society said of their launch in an online news announcement. "This format utilizes a digital platform and will help modernize historical resources, allowing the remarkable stories and histories of North Elba and Lake Placid to reach audiences near and far during this new era of increased virtual information. Audio stories will be archived with photographs, making engagement immediate, captivating, and shareable." Increasing access and expanding virtual collections is a key component of modern library science, Huntley says. If it's any indicator, growth of the "MyAdirondackStory" model has continued apace and in many directions seemingly at once. Over 5,000 unique hits have reached the server since the project was founded in June of 2019. Recognizing the need to tie the projects together, Huntley created a very unique internship with SUNY Albany this summer. She has been working with graduate student Kelly Bartlett to integrate the three tiers of oral history as one educational resource. Bartlett is working toward her degree in English and Information Sciences and agrees that tech integration is a critical component of a librarian's work in the 21st Century. Not only does the online resource provide the capacity to capture and catalog people's voices via the Internet, but it also can connect communities as Keene Valley has learned through integrating Story Bridge with historical accounts in Alaska and Utah. Bartlett worked this summer to integrate all 250 stories from Keene, Igiugig, and Tremonton City into an online teacher's guide. "We fit them into the classroom rubric in a way that provides a list of relevant stories under each discipline, history, English, and science," Huntley said. "Kelly has helped with this big upgrade for all projects for use by teachers." There have been 360 downloads of materials and the user guide to date, adding up to more than one per day in the year since the educational component was added. "The technology adds a very important resource for librarians and community outreach. It is the next evolution of library science," Bartlett said. "I am very grateful for having the opportunity to work on StoryBridge with Jery. We are hoping more libraries and organizations will join." Local history in "MyAdirondackStory" has added podcasts and sections on specific subjects, including community memories of Tropical Storm Irene and the Covid-19 pandemic. Keene Valley Library is also working with the Keene Central School students and teacher liaison Brad Hurlburt to capture their views of local events and history in a civic engagement effort. Resources are available online to learn more about MyAdirondackStory and the local component: myadirondackstory.org Information and start-up resources for StoryBridge are also readily available: ourstorybridge.org Frequently asked questions are answered here: ourstorybridge.org/faqs. The Teacher's Guide with sample classroom assignments is online here: myadirondackstory.org/teacher-s-guide.

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KV Library Story Bridge connects communities

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