By Caitlyn Dare

For millennia, humans have recorded their experiences in order to help process traumatic events and to leave a legacy. These written records and other artifacts help people today understand the problems and solutions of the past, to better shape our future. The COVID-19 pandemic is unmatched in modern times for the effect it has had on our global society–but what will help put this affair in perspective are the accounts of changes to daily life.

The best way to make sure these experiences are preserved for future generations is to begin collecting them now! Therefore, the Dayton Memorial Library is undertaking the Community Memories Project–the initial collection, maintenance, and eventual archival of accounts of coronavirus in Columbia County. The purpose of this project is to encourage agencies, organizations, and individuals to document their actions and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you have interpreted your coronavirus experience through poetry, prose, diary entries, photographs, music, art, memes, videos, data collection, or any other medium that can be held digitally, send it to us! The material–along with biographical information of the submitter–will be securely maintained by CCRLD. Our goal is to make all holdings available to the public for use, and we are currently in talks with Washington Rural Heritage to possibly host submissions on their site. For more information or to make your submission, please visit our website at DaytonML.org/community-memories/