The project will gather journals, diaries and other creative material from around Oklahoma County to help document the community’s experiences during the current crisis caused by the novel coronavirus.
“One of the library’s roles is to preserve our history and culture for future generations,” Special Collections Manager Larry Johnson said. “Collecting community stories is something we do every day, but these are anchored in the past. History is being made right now, however, so it’s important to have fresh first-hand perspectives to better inform and inspire those future generations.”
The diary project is open to all people regardless of age and the librarians will accept any format, from hand-written journals to social media posts, to artwork and poetry, project creator Judie Matthews said.
“Because some stories may feel deeply personal at this moment, we will be not be making these diaries public for several years. This will give us time to fully digitize and process these stories, as well as make sure privacy is maintained,” Matthews said.
If you are interested in learning more or contributing to the project, contact the Special Collections & Research department via a contact form
here.
Share your coronavirus story for Metropolitan Library System’s new project
Does anyone else have something like this going on in your state? I think making, sharing and preserving memories is who, what, when, where, why and how we are.
Someday we will be history. History repeats itself. How will history remember us?