Libraries upload Local Content to raise awareness of local history and authors

In the fall, libraries and schools regained the ability to upload locally created content through OverDrive Marketplace and since that time, more than 1,000 titles have been uploaded and are available to be added to digital collections around the world. Unique titles have been uploaded ranging from family backgrounds, local histories, self-help and even videos about basic IT and coding. One particularly interesting idea came from Mid-Continent Public Library, which is uploading oral history interviews as audiobooks. These titles are giving patrons and community members a chance to hear a living history of their surroundings. Andrew McKinley, Mid-Continent's Web Content Creator, was kind enough to give us some insight into this project.   OD: Can you share a few details about Mid-Continent Public Library's Oral Interview audiobook series? MC: Mid-Continent Public Library is fortunate to have the Midwest Genealogy Center as one of its branches. The Midwest Genealogy Center is one of the nation’s preeminent resources for family history, and oral history is an important part of family research. It is connecting with family still living to discover stories and to flesh out the character of those who have gone before us. MCPL's oral history program, Tell Me a Story, gives our customers the opportunity to record and preserve the memories, stories and living history of residents in the metro area. OD: Local content can give your digital collection a more personal feel. How do you anticipate these local histories will make your digital collection unique and possibly engage a new user base in your community with digital content? MC: Oral histories are stories, like much of the content already on OverDrive. Placing these local histories on OverDrive is a way to make them available to our customers who are already accessing other digital content, but may not be aware of this local history project, and hopefully, encouraging new customers to create their own oral histories through our program. OD: Is there anything else you'd like to share with other libraries on your success with adding local content to your digital collection? MC: Utilizing OverDrive to share oral histories recorded through our Tell Me a Story program allows us to support one of our library's main goals: to help customers express themselves through original content creation. This partnership with OverDrive paves the way for future work that will be created through our Story Center, which is currently in development. Our Story Center will serve as a national resource for the storytelling arts. We hope to further our partnership with OverDrive by continuing to share our community's oral histories and branching out to support the creation and publication of written and digital stories.   Other libraries and schools who have uploaded content include North Lakes State College, A.B. Patterson College and the Diocese of Wollongong in Australia, Derby City Library in the U.K. and Frontier School Division. Have you uploaded any local content yet? If so, tell us your story! To learn more about how to upload Local Content to your library's digital collection, view the Local Content training module from OverDrive's Learning Center. Adam Sockel is a Marketing Communications Specialist with OverDrive.

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