As the COVID-19 pandemic transforms lives across the city, nation, and world, The New York Public Library seeks to document this pivotal moment in our history—and wants to hear and preserve your story. The Pandemic Diaries project invites submissions, via an online form, audio recordings of yourself or your loved ones telling personal stories about life amid the pandemic. The audio diaries collected as part of this project will document the experiences of people from all walks of life, in their own words. These diaries will be archived in NYPL’s research libraries—the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts—to be preserved and made available to the public, scholars, journalists, and students for decades to come.
Category Archives: Public Libraries
Advice on remote oral history interviewing during the Covid-19 pandemic
The British Library Oral History team has compiled a guide to remote oral history interviewing based on their experiences, with input from the British Oral History Society. It is hosted by the British Oral History Society and authored by Charlie Morgan, Oral History Archivist, British Library, [charlie.morgan[@]bl.uk] with Rob Perks, Mary Stewart, Camille Johnston (British Library Oral History, London), with thanks to Tom Lean (University of York), and Adam Tovell (British Library Sound Archive).
Queens Memory Covid-19 Project
A collaboration between the Queens Public Library and Urban Archive, the Queens Memory Covid-19 Project seeks to document the experiences of Queens residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
4 Ways to Contribute:
- Leave a message on their storyline at 1-855-QNS-LOVE (767-5683). In your recording, please include:A. The spelling and pronunciation of your first and last name
B. Your age
C. A way to contact you
D. A description of where you are - Tag the project in your social media posts by using @queensmemory and #QueensCOVID
- Use this webform to send in an account of your experience in Queens. This can be captured through writing, photography, sound, or video recordings.
- Use this webform to send in oral history interview recordings.
Please note that if you are between the ages of 14 and 18, you must have your guardian’s consent to participate in this program. Children aged 13 or younger may not participate in this program.
Our Streets, Our Stories
In an unprecedented time of stress and resilience, many Brooklynites are at the front lines of responding to the coronavirus crisis, and many more are encountering a new normal, as we adjust to changing work, education, housing, and even access to basic amenities.
That’s why Brooklyn Public Library is calling for submissions to its local oral history archive, Our Streets, Our Stories. At this moment in time, we have an opportunity to collect testimonies and memories of the crisis as it is unfolding so that future Brooklynites can understand the pandemic at a local level. If you are a healthcare worker, a teacher, a student, a parent, a community member, a first responder, an essential worker, a senior, or if you are incarcerated or have a loved one who is incarcerated, we want to hear from you. If you are a Brooklynite, this story is your story.
How it works: To contribute your story, or to suggest a community member for an interview, email ososproject@bklynlibrary.org or call (917) 426-1271 and let us know the best way to reach you. A member of BPL staff will set up a time with you to do a remote interview. All you will need is a phone number or a laptop with internet connection. Interviews can last a few minutes or up to an hour, depending on your interest and availability. After it is cataloged by our librarians, your story will be available online, and archived in our permanent collection under a Creative Commons license.
Maryland During COVID-19: Stories from Baltimore Teens
During these homebound weeks in Baltimore, there is a unique opportunity to share, learn, and communicate how different generations respond to this ongoing COVID-19 health crisis in Baltimore, the United States, and the world. Maryland During COVID-19: Stories from Baltimore Teens, a project of the Public Library of Baltimore: Enoch Pratt Free Library, documents that response by collecting first-hand accounts through oral history interviews between teens and their parents or guardians, in the style of StoryCorps. Stories will be cataloged, archived, and made publicly available online through the Pratt Library’s Special Collections Dept.