Website of the Week

StoryCorps 

https://storycorps.org (About) 

https://storycorps.me/ (App) 

If you’ve ever listened to NPR’s Morning Edition, you may have heard a StoryCorps excerpt.

What is StoryCorps?

StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, and each conversation is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Since 2003, StoryCorps has recorded more than 60,000 interviews from more than 100,000 participants.

In a brief conversation in a recording booth, two people explore the heart of a personal story. One person takes on the role of interviewer and the other is the interviewee. Conversations cover simple and familiar topics, as well as extraordinary experiences – no matter the theme, the listener may discover that while the subject is unique, the emotion is universal.

Some examples of interview titles include:

• “Being married is like having a color television set…”
• "I didn't know that there were other blind people except me and my brothers.”
• "He was proud to be the person to challenge that law."
• "I just hugged the man who murdered my son.”
• "As he's walking away, I'm like, 'Hey, you forgot something...'" 

StoryCorps uses mobile recording studios and anyone can make a reservation to interview someone they know. Don’t want to wait for the studio to come to town? Anyone can record a interview with the new StoryCorps App.


The Library owns a copy of Listening Is an Act of Love, a print compilation of some of the StoryCorps interviews.

From the StoryCorps website: “StoryCorps’ mission is to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share and preserve the stories of our lives. We do this to remind one another of our shared humanity, to strengthen and build the connections between people, to teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that everyone’s story matters. At the same time, we are creating an invaluable archive for future generations.”