It may be too late to say ‘Happy New Year,’ but it is the perfect time to congratulate the Institute of Museum and Library Services 2011 National Medal winners. This year ten institutions have been recognized for excellence in this field. As part of the National Medal award, each organization receives three recording days with StoryCorps. Luckily for my co-facilitator and I, our first trip brought us to sunny Los Angeles, CA, to the Japanese American National Museum. Not only was the trip a welcome respite from the cold New York weather, but also the stories of the volunteers and staff of the museum are an important part of a history that many have forgotten.

During World War II, the United States government removed thousands of Japanese families from their homes in California, Washington, Oregon and several other states and sent them to internment camps for the duration of the war. Allowed to take only minimal possessions, families were sent as far away as Minnesota and Arkansas. Many families never returned to their original homes. Determined to preserve this little known history, a group of grassroots activists started the Japanese American National Museum in 1985.

Over the last twenty-six years, the museum has evolved to not only includes stories and exhibitions of the Issei and Nisei (the first and second generation of Japanese Americans, respectively), but also works to create bridges with diverse communities in an effort to tell the full American story. It was a privilege to record the stories of staff and volunteers who breathe life into the museum’s mission everyday.

After the break, read about how the museum became one couple’s matchmaker.

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Fellow Facilitator Matt Herman and I were in Los Angeles’s Miracle Mile on June 23, 2010 to record a day of Door-to-Door interviews hosted by the Alzheimer’s Association – California Southland Chapter, and Leeza’s Place at Olympia Medical Center, a site that supports Alzheimer’s caregivers.

Life partners Earl Adams and Jennifer Duke recorded on this day. Jennifer is 38 and a few years ago was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis; Earl is 50 and last year was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The two talked about the importance of sports in his life and how they help him focus on the present.

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At Braille Institute Library Services, we had a number of great storytellers with compelling stories, one of which was Charlie Grover, who began dabbling in photography over twenty years ago while in the US Air Force. He bought a cheap 35mm film camera, taught himself film developing techniques and created a few techniques of his own.

Not long ago, Charlie developed a type of visual impairment that causes loss of central vision, making it difficult for him to recognize details and peoples’ faces. However, Charlie has turned this disadvantage into an advantage. “For all those decades that I would occasionally carry around a camera and then put it away for months or years, I was just recording things, I wasn’t taking ‘art pictures.’ I didn’t have an eye for such things. What eye I have for taking a picture has really developed since my blindness has developed.”

How does Charlie see differently now? Since losing part of his vision, Charlie can no longer drive, so he walks to many places and during his walks, he notices more of the world around him. As Charlie describes it, “I slowed down, slower pace through life, slower pace through the world and a more intimate contact with it. So you start seeing things. The change in my vision has made me see things differently.”

Please visit With a Different Eye, Charlie’s website, to view his photographs.

Last week, Door-to-Door Facilitators, Gaspar Caro and Naomi Greene, traveled to Los Angeles, CA for three recording days with the Braille Institute Library Services. Due to the library’s outstanding service, Braille Institute is one of ten winners of the 2009 National Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). In addition to a cash prize, each winner received StoryCorps recording days in recognition of their excellent work within their communities.

Braille Institute provides services for blind and visually impaired individuals in the Los Angeles area. Braille’s library consists of more than 90,000 audio titles. Besides audio tapes, Braille provides braille books, audio listening devices and a host of other services. Although the weather in Los Angeles was not at it’s best, inside the library, we were greeted with nothing but sunshine from the library staff and the participants. Below is a slideshow featuring a few of our participants as well as the inner workings of the library’s vast collection.

Thank you to all the participants who shared their stories, proving that although one is blind, one is not necessarily limited. Also, a very special thank you to library staff members Tina, Kokoi and Siran for making our three days run smoothly…and for sharing information about the best restaurants near the library!