September 28, 2007

Share your memories, bring history to life

The Timberland Regional Library system is launching a districtwide initiative titled "Remembering Aloud" to provide elder citizens with ways to share their personal histories at local libraries.

Storyteller and educator Rebecca Hom is offering a set of three workshops designed to teach older adults how to develop powerful stories from their cache of memories. The workshops will be held on Tuesdays, October 16, 23 and 30, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Chehalis Timberland Library. The workshops are free of charge and materials are provided. Advance registration is required.

Ms. Hom will open the first workshop with the book, "What You Know First," by Patricia MacLachlan. She will teach journaling techniques and other methods for recalling memories. At the following two workshops, participants will develop oral stories from those memories.

"We will explore why we tell our stories, how to go about telling them, and how they fit into the larger history of our times," said Hom. "The focus will be on the spoken rather than the written word, on strong images rather than proper grammar. We will lift the words off the page into our retellings."

To register for the workshops, people can stop by the Chehalis Timberland Library at 350 N. Market Blvd. (on the Park Street side of the building) or call the library at (360) 748-3301.

In the coming weeks and months, other Timberland libraries will be scheduling Remembering Aloud programs in a different format. Conversations will be held around specific topics such as "Remembering the 50s," "Fun & Games," "The Home Front" and "Music." These programs use music, photographs, video and-or writing prompts to jog memories of decades past.　

Revised 09/28/07