Individuals are feeling more isolated and disconnected from their communities, and libraries are currently challenged with how to evolve with their communities' needs. We propose that the ability to share and hear stories from other ordinary community members will help with this disconnect. While information and popular literature is widely available, the stories about our communities and community members are not – and in the case of some community groups these stories are at risk of being lost forever if they are not collected soon. This is an opportunity for libraries to continue their role of gathering, preserving and sharing information and stories in a new way. Vancouver Public Library's goal is to enable the preservation of local culture, heritage and identity through ensuring long-term digital access to our community's stories. On October 3rd 2014, VPL launched the West End Stories exhibit website (
www.vpl.ca/westendstories/) featuring oral stories told by 12 individuals who grew up and attended school in Vancouver's West End during the 1930s to 1950s. This is the first project completed by VPL's Community Digital Initiatives Team and will lead the way toward enabling our community members to consider VPL as a resource to help them create, preserve and share their own stories digitally.
