Staff of the Keene Valley Library stand with the Adirondack Community Banner. (Photo provided)

KEENE VALLEY — Keene residents and guests will gather at the Keene Valley Library from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9 to celebrate the 400 stories available through “Adirondack Community: Capturing, Retaining, and Communicating the Stories of Who We Are,” the first OurStoryBridge Partner Project. All are welcome.

Adirondack Community is sponsored by the Keene Valley Library. Adirondack Community is a multi-year local history project that collects and organizes 3- to 5-minute audio stories and related photographs from Keene community members through an online platform to share the rich social and cultural history of this community. The project is the model used by the national nonprofit, OurStoryBridge Inc., to support 42 Partner Projects in 15 states and one territory.

In a town of about 1,100 residents, almost 11,000 unique users from around the world have visited the website to listen to stories. Since the launch of Adirondack Community in June 2019, volunteer storytellers have recorded 400 stories, with over 90 of the stories collected from Keene Central School students in a program called SchoolStoryBridge, piloted in Keene and available to schools throughout the country.

“We are preserving individual and community stories before they are lost, using 21st century media that captures the interest of all,” Keene Valley Library Director Liz Coccia said. “This project connects our community, young and old, and bonds us.”

The complete collection is available at www.myadirondackstory.org, where stories are sorted into eight categories — the most popular of which are people, catastrophes, outdoor activities, and arts and culture. The website also hosts 25 podcasts, compilations of stories with narration, including those by students.

“We owe our success to our storytellers,” said volunteer Jery Huntley, Adirondack Community and OurStoryBridge founder. “Because of them, communities from Igiugig, Alaska, to North Hero, Vermont, including neighbors in the Adirondacks, are creating their own story projects based on ours. Adirondack Community serves as the model for OurStoryBridge at www.ourstorybridge.org, a free resource and tool kit for producing crowdsourced, community, online story projects emphasizing audio history collecting and sharing.”

Keene residents and visitors may continue to email myadirondackstory@gmail.com to share their stories about life and times, past and present, in the town. Adirondack Community is funded by local residents using Memria.org.