Have a story to tell? the Lake Geneva Public Library could help with that
Chris Brookes, lead StoryCorps facilitator for the Lake Geneva Public Library, displays some recording equipment that is used for the StoryCorps interviews.
Have a story to tell?
The Lake Geneva Public Library may be able to help with that.
Officials from the Lake Geneva Public Library are partnering with the StoryCorps organization to give residents an opportunity to produce an audio recording of their stories.
Chris Brookes, lead StoryCorps facilitator for the Lake Geneva Public Library, said participants may have their recording conducted by a friend or family member or a facilitator. She said a facilitator records the interview and makes sure the recording equipment is at the appropriate sound level and working properly.
Brookes said the participant receives a worksheet several days before their interview which includes suggested topics that they might want to discuss during their recording.
“People have their conversation and it’s recorded,” Brookes said. “There’s ideas here for preparing for your interview. There’s a suggestion of topics you might want to talk about. The other day we had twins come in and they talked about being twins.”
Participants may talk about their past experiences or about something they are currently experiencing.
“It’s more like recording a meaningful experience,” Brookes said. “It’s something important in your life that you would want to leave for a record of what life was like at a point in time.”
Brookes said participants do not have to share any information they would like to remain private.
“When you’re preparing your interview with your partner, there might be things you don’t want to talk about,” Brookes said. “We’re a small town.”
Interviews may be conducted at the Lake Geneva Public Library or at the participant’s home.
“Because the recording equipment is in this nice rolling suitcase, we can go to you,” Brookes said. “I’ve done one at a senior’s residence just at the kitchen table. I think that’s important for people to know. Maybe they can’t get to the library or in the summer there may be no parking or whatever the situation might be, we can come to you.”
Most interviews take about an hour to complete.
“There’s paperwork to fill out at the beginning, then the recording itself is up to 40 minutes,” Brookes said. “It could be shorter and it could go a little longer, but 40 minutes is usually allowed, then there’s a little bit of paperwork at the end.”
The Lake Geneva Public Library has 12 facilitators available to help conduct the interviews. The facilitators were trained by StoryCorps representatives from New York.
“They’re local people from around the lakes area, from Fontana, Williams Bay and Lake Geneva,” Brookes said. “The nice thing is they all belong to different organizations, so they have their own group of people they can contact to tell their stories.”
After the interviewAfter the interview is conducted, the participant has the option to have the recording archived at the Lake Geneva Public Library, which is later posted on StoryCorp’s national website and archived with the Library of Congress.
“The Library of Congress has a folklore collection about life in America from all these different generations,” Brookes said. “So if grandmothers had a conversation about families or family stories or anything from their past, it’s a gift for the future. Someday, their grandkids can go on the Library of Congress site and they can learn what grandma’s life was like.”
Participants also have the option to keep their recording private and have it shared with only their friends or family members.
“They just might want to keep it private,” Brookes said. “They might say, ‘I didn’t mean to say that. I don’t want the whole world to know this. I just want a CD. I just want a computer link. I just want to keep it for myself and my family.’”
People can listen to interviews that have been recorded at the Lake Geneva Public Library by visiting www.lglibrary.org/storycorps or listen to stories that have been recorded throughout the country by visiting www.Storycorps.org/stories.
Pandemic delays programThe StoryCorps program has been offered at the Lake Geneva Public Library since May 2022. Brookes said about 43 interviews have been recorded or scheduled since that time. The program has been funded by the Lake Geneva Library Foundation.
Brookes said the program was scheduled to begin at the library in 2020 but was delayed because of the coronavirus.
“We were one day before the pandemic. We had a team coming from New York to do the training, and the country was shut down,” Brookes said. “They cancelled. The flights were cancelled. They cancelled everything, so we had to wait two years.”
Future of the programThe library’s contract with the StoryCorps organization is set to expire in April.
Brookes said she is not certain whether the library will renew the contract, but if they decide not to, they will still have the recording equipment available to conduct a story program locally.
“It will still be available to archive in the Lake Geneva collection,” Brookes said. “We can still keep it going. It just won’t have that national connection.”
Scheduling an interviewResidents can schedule an interview by sending an email to Brookes at storycorps@lglibrary.org.
“That email comes to me, then I look at the calendar to say, ‘Sure come on in,’ then I reserve the room and the time,” Brookes said. “I send them a packet, so they can have time to prepare. We don’t usually take walk-ins because the room may not be available, and you want them to have time to prepare.”
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