We all know longtime residents of the neighborhood who have a lot to say about the communities they’ve lived in. They are our natural story tellers who can reminiscence just about anything from funny childhood memories, to remembering favorite hangout spots, or to recalling the many changes that have occurred in their communities. But if only these voices could be preserved like a message in a bottle floating on the ocean sea that is just waiting to be uncovered.
The New York Public Library is known for being the resource center of any neighborhood because of its offering of traditional services like the loaning of books, audio books, e-books, and the use of computers and laptops. Now it is doing something a bit unconventional and it is trying to measure the pulse of the neighborhood by introducing an oral history project.
NYPL first began their effort of initiating an oral history project in the hopes of documenting and preserving neighborhood history in the communities of Greenwich Village and Harlem. Because of the success of those efforts and with attaining close to 200 interviews, NYPL is trying out the project in the Bronx.
“Voices From East of Bronx Park” is the name of the project and it will cover the neighborhoods of Allerton, Morris Park, Pelham Parkway, and Van Nest.
Alexandra Kelly, the Outreach Services and Adult Programming Coordinator of NYPL, is the individual in charge of this project and she believes the Bronx is the perfect location for neighborhood history. “This is the only oral history project that has ever been done in these neighborhoods. When you google search them, you’re not going to find a whole wealth of information. And the best way to get that information is to talk to the people who have actually lived in these communities and hear their stories,” she said.
One of the libraries that is participating in this project is the Pelham Parkway-Van Nest Branch. This branch has been around since 1912 and has moved four times to where it currently sits at 2147 Barnes Avenue. For over a quarter of a century, active residents of the community have strove for a change of name because they felt the Van Nest name did not fit the community it serves since it moved to its current location back in 1967. The name was finally changed in August of this year.
David Nochimson, the branch manager, felt it was the perfect time for this type of project. “With the recent name change of the library, it seemed like a good time for this project to finally discover what the real story of this neighborhood is,” he said. As it was stated previously, the project was done in the city, but Nochimson feels the Bronx will bring something different. “These neighborhoods may not be as famous as Greenwich Village or Harlem, but they will surely reveal what life is really all about,” he said.
Jhenelle Robinson, an Information Assistant at the branch, is enthralled that the project was brought to the Bronx. “It’s time for the Bronx to get its due respect and be highlighted like the other boroughs. There aren’t many instances of Bronx history recordings, so I feel like the library system saw an opportunity to be a forerunner in documenting the rich history of the Bronx,” she said.
Although the project has just recently started, it has already gotten the dialogue on record. Jeremy Warneke, District Manager of Community Board 11, who interviewed Cecilia DeBrino Haas, a former resident of the Bronx who currently works at Albert Einstein Hospital. “When I heard about this project I thought.. growing up in the Bronx, raising a kid in the Bronx, having a career in the Bronx, developing friendships in the Bronx.. I want to be part of that, and so here I am,” she said.
When Warneke heard that the library was doing this project, he was automatically on board to be an interviewer. “I think it’s great that the public library started this initiative. The library has remained relevant and continues to stay in touch,” he said.
Besides starting new outreach initiatives, the library plays a key role in the community, particularly with the closing of many bookstores. The only major bookstore in the Bronx, Barnes and Noble, offered e-books and remained with the trends, but was still recently threatened to close. The library continues to serve as a threat to bookstores and offers a wide selection of e-books and audio books.
Cecilia DeBrino Haas, an interviewee of the project, is a daily user of audio books and she believes the library is excelling at remaining current with the current digital trends. “I have a 25 minute commute to work every day. I’m addicted to books on tape and there is an audio book in my car at all times. If I don’t have a book in my car, I don’t want to come to work. And that’s why I believe if the library did not remain current with the trends, the library would die,” she said.
The oral history project has gotten people from the Bronx involved and they appreciate that the library is getting the community involved. “Somebody is gonna have to listen to this, poor thing. But on a serious note, the library is a great resource and I want to say thank you to the New York Public Library for doing this project,” Haas said.
At the end of this project, which will conclude in May of 2015, the New York Public Library is hoping that it will be a success. “Success is not just measured by the amount of interviews we collect, but it’s about how it gets people talking, how it gets people to continue the dialogue even beyond the collection process, and that is my hope for this project,” Alexandra Kelly stated.