Patten Free Library is Archiving Local COVID-19 Stories

Patten Free Library is located in Bath, Maine. Their Board of Trustees has closed the library during the COVID-19 pandemic, for the health and safety of their community. In the meantime, Patten Free Library is collecting and archiving COVID-19 stories from people who live, work, or feel at home in Sagadahoc County.

The project is called “How’s Your Week Going?”. They choice to call it that because we are all taking it a week at a time, and none of us can predict how long we will be affected by COVID-19. As librarians, they know the power of storytelling, not just for the storyteller, but also for the listeners. The library will collect and share these stories for as long as the project continues.

Those who live, work, or feel at home in Sagadahoc County can visit the Patten Free Library website to learn how to share your COVID-19 story. The History room will preserve these stories for future generations of historians, genealogists, and library patrons who want to understand how local people experienced this historic moment.

Genealogists and family historians outside of Sagadoc County could ask their local library to take on a similar project. This might be an attractive idea for libraries that have a dedicated genealogy or family history area. Local genealogy groups may also want to preserve local stories.

It might be interesting for genealogists and family historians to ask their family members to share their own stories about how COVID-19 is affecting their lives. Everyone can contribute to this project in their own way.

Stories can be shared by email, either as an email or with a document attached. People could record their stories (in audio or video) and post them on social media. The family historian might be the best person to collect the stories and share them on a website that is only accessible to family members.

Related Articles at FamilyTree.com:

Your Great Grandparent Experienced This in 1918! – PT 1

Your Great Grandparent Experienced This in 1918! – PT 2

NGS Family History Conference will be Virtual

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