StoryCorps @ your library – Share and Record Your Migration Story

… and help us discover the place of migration in our city’s history and culture.

Chicago Public Library has been selected by the American Library Association and StoryCorps to participate in a national pilot program called “StoryCorps @ your library.” Incorporating the One Book, One Chicago focus on how migration has shaped Chicago, CPL’s StoryCorps @ your library will be at 14 CPL locations from May through October.

Join us to hear and record your stories about how you or your family made Chicago home.

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit organization with the mission to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share and preserve the stories of our lives. Since 2003, more than 40,000 everyday people have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps, making it one of the largest oral history projects of its kind.

Quicklinks: How to Participate | Schedule

How to Participate

• Find a family member, friend or neighbor who will join you for a StoryCorps interview. You may be the interviewer or the person who is interviewed. Do you have a great migration story but you need someone to interview you? Contact us and we’ll try to match you with someone.
• Sign up for an interview session by calling (312) 747-8191 or emailing onebookonechicago@gmail.com. We’ll ask you some questions over the phone or by email and, if space is available, sign you up and contact you before the interview to confirm.
• Prepare for your interview. Think about what stories you want to tell, or what questions are most meaningful to you. Look at some of your prized possessions (photos, letters, clothing, housewares or other objects) and think about what they remind you of. Feel free to jot down some notes. When you join us for the interview, we ask that you bring some of those objects from home to spark memories during the interview.
• Join us at CPL to tell us how and when you or your family members made Chicago home, or how your community has been shaped by migrants. The session will take place for one hour, which includes a welcome, preparation, a sound check and then, finally, a 40-minute interview. A facilitator will be present for the entire interview.
• For more information on what to expect, read these tips from StoryCorps
• When the interview is over, the facilitator will give you a copy of the interview on CD. He or she will also explain the release form, which allows StoryCorps and the Chicago Public Library to keep one copy and send another to the archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
• Finally, the facilitator will take photos of you and your interview partner, both together and separately. These photos will be included in the archives.

StoryCorps@ your library Schedule:

May

Woodson Regional Library
9525 S. Halsted Street

• Saturday, May 11, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 15, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Northtown
6435 N. California Avenue

• Thursday, May 16, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, May 25, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

June

Harold Washington Library Center
Talking Book Center, 5th Floor

400 s. State Street

• Saturday, June 8 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. (during Printer’s Row Lit Fest)
• Thursday, June 13, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Greater Grand Crossing
1000 E. 73rd Street

• Monday, June 10, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, June 15, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Sulzer Regional Library
4455 N. Lincoln Avenue

• Thursday, June 20, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
• Saturday, June 29, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

July

Chinatown
2353 S. Wentworth Avenue

• Wednesday, July 10, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday, July 13, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Avalon
8148 S. Stony Island Avenue

• Wednesday, July 24, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday, July 27, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

August

Legler
115 S. Pulaski Road

• Monday, August 5, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, August 10, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Humboldt Park
1605 N. Troy Street

• Wednesday, August 14, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, August 17, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Hall
4801 S. Michigan Avenue

• Tuesday, August 20, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, August 24, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

September

Lozano
1805 S. Loomis Street

• Tuesday, September 10, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, September 14, 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Jefferson Park
5363 W. Lawrence Avenue

• Tuesday, Sept. 24, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Sept. 28, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

October

Vodak-East Side
3710 E. 106th Street

• Saturday, October 12, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
• Monday, October 14, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

West Town
1625 W. Chicago Avenue

• Saturday, October 19, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, October 22, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

StoryCorps @ your library is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to the American Library Association Public Programs Office.