As part of its commitment to document and share the history of Oklahoma County the Special Collections & Research department of the Metropolitan Library System has announced the Oklahoma County COVID-19 Diary Project. The project will gather journals, diaries and other creative material from around Oklahoma County to help document the community’s experiences during the current crisis caused by the novel coronavirus.

All residents of central Oklahoma are welcome to submit contributions to the project. “One of the library’s roles is to preserve our history and culture for future generations,” said Special Collections Manager Larry Johnson. “Collecting community stories is something we do every day, but these are anchored in the past. History is being made right now, however, so it’s important to have fresh first-hand perspectives to better inform and inspire those future generations.”

The librarians in the department will archive and catalog community submissions to the project so they can be useful to researchers in the future. Project creator Judie Matthews said the diary project is open to all people regardless of age and the librarians will accept any format, from hand-written journals to social media posts, to artwork and poetry. Matthews said, “Because some stories may feel deeply personal at this moment, we will be not be making these diaries public for several years. This will give us time to fully digitize and process these stories, as well as make sure privacy is maintained.”

Anyone interested in learning more or contributing to the community-wide diary project can contact the Special Collections & Research department via a contact form at https://www.metrolibrary.org/covid19diary.