The Chapel Hill Public Library is creating a new innovative space. The Community History Lab will be in the lower level of the library and serve as a place to share the history of Chapel Hill’s people, places, and moments.
Chapel Hill Public Library’s Community History Lab will be equipped with a variety of resources to collaborate and create public history projects – suitable for community members of all backgrounds and skillsets.
Additionally, the lab will house the reference collection of the Chapel Hill Historical Society.
Susan Brown, director of the Chapel Hill Public Library, said the lab is envisioned as an inclusive and participatory space where people can share their histories.
“It’s really an extension of the community history work that we’ve been doing for the last couple of years,” Brown said. “We know that there’s great interest in giving people the tools and empowering them to tell their own histories.”
The library community history program started up in 2017 with the Mayor’s Historic Civil Rights Task Force. Library staff helped to facilitate a community process of honoring the history makers of the town.
Since then, other community history projects include podcasts, digital exhibits, and public art monuments. Brown said her hope is that the lab builds on those projects and becomes a space where the community can feel a sense of ownership.
“They helped design the space,” Brown said. “They use this space, it’s a space for them. We are here to be a collaborator, a coconspirator, a partner, but it’s really a community driven space that is also very inclusive.”
Brown said the Chapel Hill Public Library is focusing not only on accessibility but also equity.
“Public libraries are very trusted institutions and we’ve always been focused on an access to information,” Brown said. “Now we’re really focused on equitable access to the tools that people need. It’s really centered on equitable access.”
There is not yet a date on when the new Community History Lab will be open to the public, but Brown said the space is expected to grow and change over time.
Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.
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