Sharing America

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

The Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library’s Sharing America series was based on American art posters from the Picturing America series sponsored by the national endowment for the Humanities. Art posters depicting regional histories and customs were chosen and programs and displays were planned around them. Our objective was to provide citizens the opportunity to reconnect with history. The series included oral history interviews with local citizens. Volunteers were taught interviewing techniques by Dr. Clay Waite, recently retired professor of Media Studies. The hands-on training made it possible for volunteers to share their own memories, and to collect and preserve the memories of their peers. Short films created from the interviews were viewed by hundreds of citizens.