CENTENNIAL ORAL HISTORY DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

BY MEGAN NORTHCOTE

Ashe County Public Library program proposal

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Centennial Oral History Documentary project is an

intergenerational, summer program where teens interview and film

local adults and senior citizens as they share their stories and

remembrances of West Jefferson over the last 100 years.

PROJECT DETAILS AND RATIONALE

• The filming will occur this summer from June 15 to July 24, 2015.

• The documentary will be debuted at the town’s Centennial

Community Homecoming Celebration on July 31.

• Teens will be given the opportunity to develop leadership,

interpersonal communication, and technological skills.

• Adults will be given a digital outlet for sharing their stories.

PROJECT BUDGET

Project Expenses

One Canon Vixia Hf R20 Hd Camcorder 1080 Hdmi - $144.95 plus tax

Refreshments for workshop training day and documentary premier day –

(finger foods, plates, cups, napkins, drinks) - $25

The video camera could be purchased out of the adult services’ budget; the mobile Maker cart is

primarily for teens, and we already have one video camera. Adult services would benefit from having a

video camera for future projects. The teen budget would cover the food and paper ware costs.

MARKETING PLAN FOR TEENS

Teens Marketing Plan–

• Fliers to leave at the Ashe County Middle and High School media center,

history classes, video production classes

• Flier on middle school and high school announcement screen

• Announcement over intercom at middle and high school as it gets closer

to time

• Fliers to the homeschool leaders

SAMPLE LETTER/FLIER FOR TEENS

Dear teen participant,

Do you like telling people’s stories? Do you love digital video?

Help make and preserve history as part of the Centennial Oral History Documentary project this summer from

Monday, June 15 to Friday, July 24 at the Ashe County Public Library.

As a digital storyteller, you’ll interview and film West Jefferson natives who have memories to share about life in

this mountain town over the last 100 years. The video footage will be edited into a documentary which will premier

Friday, July 31st at the West Jefferson Community Homecoming.

All participants will be required to attend an interview and film training workshop Saturday, June 13 at 1 p.m. or

Monday, June 15 at 1 p.m. (snacks will be provided). At the workshop, you will get to meet your adult interviewees

whom you will be paired with and will be given your filming days for the summer.

If you’re interested in becoming a digital storyteller, contact Megan Northcote, youth services assistant, 336-846-

2041 ext.223 or mnorthcote@arlibrary.org. To register, be sure to include your name, contact phone number or

email, and the weekday morning dates you’d be available to film. Register by May 31 at 4 p.m.

MARKETING PLAN FOR ADULTS

Adult Marketing Plan

• Fliers distributed on the book mobile route

• Fliers distributed to local businesses downtown

• Fliers distributed to the Ashe County Historical Museum – perhaps a separate presentation there

later in the summer?

• Fliers in the local history room in the adult services section of the public library

• Fliers distributed to local nursing homes, retirement homes, and senior citizen groups who meet at

the library already

*while most of the project will be filmed at the public library, if there are a lot of senior citizens who are homebound

or in nursing homes and are unable to come to the library, but are interested in sharing their stories, we might

arrange one or two days for the teens to meet them at a convenient location offsite with parental permission.

SAMPLE LETTER/FLIER FOR ADULTS

Dear adult participant,

Do you have a story about West Jefferson’s past you’d like to share?

 Help make and preserve history as part of the Centennial oral history documentary project this summer from

Monday, June 15 to Friday, July 24 at the Ashe County Public Library.

 Allow teen volunteers to capture your story of West Jefferson’s past on film. Share a favorite memory about

growing up in the area or reminisce on a favorite local family anecdote. The video footage will be edited into a

documentary, which will premier Friday, July 31st at the West Jefferson Community Homecoming.

 All teen participants will be required to attend an interview and film training workshop Saturday, June 13 at 1 p.m.

or Monday, June 15 at 1 p.m. (snacks will be provided). At the workshop, you’ll get a chance to meet the teen

interviewer with whom you will be paired and you’ll be given your filming days for the summer.

 If you’re interested in capturing your stories on film, contact Sarah Spanburgh, adult services manager, 336-846-

2041 ext.243 or sspanburgh@arlibrary.org. To register, be sure to include your name, contact phone number or

email, and the weekday morning dates you’d be available to be filmed. Register by May 31 at 4 p.m.

OTHER MARKETING STRATEGIES

• A promotional teen video to show on our library’s website

• Fliers in the library, in the teen, youth services and adult services area, on our announcement screen at the

circulation desk, and a flier in the main lobby

• A sign-up sheet will be available at the youth services and adult services desk for teens and adults to register

throughout the spring

• Posts on Facebook – 2-3 throughout the spring to encourage people to register, one the week prior to the

mandatory training workshop, and one a few days prior to the premiering of the documentary film.

• Update the library webpage, teen and adult services, to reflect the period of registration, the workshop, and the

premier of the documentary

• A press release and article in the newspaper

• A PSA announcement on the local radio

• Fliers in the chamber of commerce downtown

PLANNING TIME LINE

March – Megan creates promotional fliers and Megan and Sarah collaborate in distributing these flies as indicated

above. Update website and Facebook to reflect event

April – Megan creates promotional video with teens and adults. Sarah edits video and puts on our website. Begin

registering teen and adult participants

May – Megan and Sarah divide up the places to make presentations about the summer project and show film at

presentation. Continue registering teen and adult participants. Replenish promotional fliers as needed. Contact

Germain Media to confirm workshop days. More Facebook updates. Send a press release and radio

announcement to the local paper and radio at the end of May. End registration May 31 at 4 p.m.

June – First week of June: assign registered teen participants to registered adult participants (no more than 2

adults per teen, or pair of teens, to start with), notify everyone (email/phone number) to attend a training workshop

PLANNING TIME LINE CONTINUED

Second week of June – plan for two workshops (send our Facebook and website updates,

more fliers, etc.), host 2 workshops in downstairs meeting room (Saturday, June 13 at 1

p.m. and Monday, June 15 at 1 p.m.); second half of June – begin oral history filming

sessions; send our email/phone call reminders 1-2 days before scheduled filming session

July - First three weeks of July: continue filming sessions and sending out reminder

messages; last day of filming, Friday, July 24

Last week of July – Megan and Sarah edit together all film footage into documentary

July 31, 7 p.m. – premier documentary film at start of the West Jefferson Community

Homecoming celebration; serve refreshments, invite a couple teens/adult participants to

speak

EVALUATION PLAN

We’ll certainly look at the numbers of people who registered to participate

versus those who actually participated to get a sense of how the project

went. Also, immediate verbal feedback from participants will be noted and

recorded throughout the process.

Surveys will be given to all teen and adult participants attending the

documentary premier on Friday, July 31 and emailed to all those participants

not in attendance.

EVALUATION SURVEY PART ONE

Sample evaluation survey for teens and adults

On a scale of 1 to 5, rank the following:

• Convenience of registering to participate in this event

• Usefulness of information provided at the mandatory workshop to assist

with collaboration and filming

• Ease of meeting your interviewer/interviewee at the scheduled date and

time• Helpfulness of the library staff in facilitating the scheduling and filming

process• Satisfaction with the finished documentary

EVALUATION SURVEY PART TWO

Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability:

1. Why did you decide to participate in the West Jefferson Oral History Project?

2. What did you learn about yourself after participating?

3. What did you learn about the process of creating a documentary film or what did you learn about technology?

4. Is there anything you would have changed, especially about the way you were paired with your

interviewer/interviewee?

5. What did you most enjoy about the West Jefferson Oral History Project?

6. What would you like to see happen with this documentary we created?

7. Would you be interested in participating in a similar project in the future?

EVALUATION SURVEY PART THREE

Adults only: Would you be interested in receiving technical assistance from teen

volunteers concerning your technology/computer issues (email, word processing,

internet, genealogy research)? Please elaborate.

Teens only: With proper training from librarians, would you be interested in

providing technical assistance to adults concerning their technology/computer

issues (email, word processing, internet, genealogy research)? Please elaborate.

 We might also offer a comment card at the documentary premier so that film

viewers and community members can leave us their thoughts about the film, the

concept of the project in general and ways to improve.

THANK YOU!

Thank you for learning more about my proposal for the

intergenerational Centennial Oral History Documentary

Project at Ashe County Public Library.

I look forward to hearing your feedback!