Central 100 Community Oral History: What Does Central Library Mean To You?

two ladies holding a microphone 1930s

As part of LAPL's Central 100 Celebration, we're collecting oral history testimonials from our community. We invite you to share your stories and memories of Central Library over the years via a short video recording that will become part of the LAPL Archives. With your personal narratives, we are building an archive of voices that reflects and honors the diverse communities Central Library has served for 100 years. We can’t wait to hear your stories about what Central Library means to you!

The recording platform is called TheirStory. You can self-submit from your own device in English or Spanish. Or you can attend an in-person recording event throughout the year.

Como parte de la celebración Central 100 de la Biblioteca Pública de Los Ángeles (LAPL), estamos recopilando testimonios orales de nuestra comunidad. Te invitamos a compartir tus historias y recuerdos de la Biblioteca Central a lo largo de los años mediante una breve grabación en video que pasará a formar parte de los archivos de LAPL. Con tus relatos personales, estamos construyendo un archivo de voces que refleja y honra las diversas comunidades de Los Ángeles a las que la Biblioteca Central ha servido durante 100 años. Estamos ansiosos de escuchar tu historia y conocer lo que la Biblioteca Central significa para ti.

La plataforma de grabación se llama TheirStory. Puedes enviar un testimonio tú mismo desde tu dispositivo, en inglés o español. También puedes participar en uno de nuestros eventos de grabación presenciales que se llevarán a cabo a lo largo del año.

Submission Guidelines and Rules

  • Submissions must be G or PG-rated in language and subject matter (no cursing), or they will not be accepted.
  • We encourage you to keep your recording to under 10 minutes.
  • You must be 18 years of age or older in order to submit a recording. If you are under 18 and would like to record a testimonial, please attend one of our in-person oral history recording events accompanied by a parent/guardian. Your guardian must sign and submit the Personal Release form in person.
  • If you’re submitting someone else’s testimonial on their behalf: by submitting the testimonial, you agree that you’ve been given permission by the subject of the testimonial to submit the recording.
  • In order to submit your testimonial, you’ll need to agree to the Personal Release statement provided within the recording platform. Please note that your submitted testimonial, along with its transcript, may be used and made available publicly via the internet, social media, podcasts, gallery exhibits, presentations, web-enhanced publications, print media, radio, and/or television. By submitting your recorded testimonial, you agree to the full terms stated within the platform.

Recording Tips

  • For best results, use a Chrome browser on a laptop, desktop, phone, or tablet.
  • If you’re using a phone or tablet, rotate your device so the screen is landscape/horizontal.
  • Once you click on the recording link, you’ll be prompted to provide access to your camera and microphone. If you prefer to record only audio, you can turn off your camera within the platform by clicking the gear icon next to the record button.
  • You can use the built-in microphone on your device or a mic that’s part of your headphones or earbuds. We suggest using what you normally use for virtual calls. You can switch between audio inputs by clicking the gear icon.
  • To start recording, click the red record button.
  • You can pause and resume your recording at any time. Just hit the pause button. To resume recording, hit the record button where the pause button was.
  • You can stop your recording and start over at any time! Hit the stop button. On the next screen, click redo at the bottom. Confirm that you want to redo your recording, and then you’ll be brought back to the welcome screen, where you can start again.
  • To finish the recording, hit the stop button. You’ll then be required to provide your name and email address and sign our Personal Release form. Click submit when you’re finished.

Prompts

The prompts you’ll see once you enter TheirStory are suggestions. You don’t need to answer each one, just the ones you feel inspired by. We invite you to share anything else about what Central Library means to you. You can toggle through the prompts in TheirStory by using the arrows before and during the recording.

  1. Introduce yourself (your name) and share something about yourself (like what you do for work, what neighborhood you live in, how long you've been visiting Central Library, and/or anything else you want to share).
  2. How did you first discover Central Library? What do you remember about your first visit?
  3. Share one of your favorite memories of visiting Central Library.
  4. What does Central Library mean to you? How has it helped or supported you throughout your life?
  5. What is your favorite spot at Central?
  6. Is there anyone at Central that you want to say thank you to?
  7. What’s a fun fact that you love about Central?
  8. Is there anything else about Central Library that you'd like to add?

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