LOCAL NEWS | Provided By Nancy Schram

California Wildfire Story Project Launches to Educate Public About Fire Preparedness

The California Wildfire Story Project is a series of public oral history workshops.

Ventura County Library joins StoryCenter and the California State Library at the launch of the California Wildfire Story Project to educate the public on the issues of wildfire risk and prevention across California.

The Ventura County Library events are at E.P. Foster Library at 651 East Main Street in Ventura: Join filmmakers Kevin White and Stephen Most, in viewing their recently released, Wilder Than Wild documentary film, on the issues surrounding megafires, climate change, and fire control and management policy, Friday, June 22 at 6 pm.

Participant interview sessions are Saturday, June 23 at E.P. Foster Library. To apply for interview participation, please visit: https://www.storycenter.org/ventura-fire-stories-june2018. All events are welcome to the general public and free.

The California Wildfire Story Project is part of California Listens, a multi-year program bringing story-based engagement process to libraries throughout California. The California State Library joins with StoryCenter, Ventura County Library, and public libraries in Mendocino, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, and Napa Counties as part of California Wildfire Preparedness Week.

“The stories of those affected by the mega-fires of 2017 are now an important part of California memory, and deserve to be collected and maintained as part of sustaining our awareness of how our state is coping with the intersection of climate change, environmental and land use policy, and managing the resource of our wilderness areas. These stories are both testament to our resiliency as communities, and as warning about what more can be done to limit the destructiveness of these fires in our communities.” — Joe Lambert, Executive Director, StoryCenter

Participants will be interviewed – to apply for interview participation, please visit
https://www.storycenter.org/ventura-fire-stories-june2018

The California Wildfire Story Project schedule is:

Mendocino County – May 10-11
Ukiah Public Library
105 N. Main Street, Ukiah
Screening: May 10, 6:30 pm with Stephen Most
Interview Sessions. Thursday, May 10 1-6 pm, Friday, May 11 4-7pm

Sonoma County – May 19, May 21
Rincon Valley Public Library
6959 Montecito Blvd, Santa Rosa
Screening: Saturday, May 19, 4pm with Stephen Most
Interview Sessions: Monday, May 21 1pm – 6pm

Santa Barbara County – June 1-2
Carpenteria Branch Library
5141 Carpinteria Ave, Carpinteria
Screening: Friday, June 1, 6 pm
Interview Sessions: Saturday June 2, 1pm – 6pm
Apply for interview participation.

Montecito Branch Library – June 15
1469 E Valley Rd, Montecito
Screening: Friday, June 15, 6 pm
Interview Sessions: Saturday, June 15, 1pm – 6pm

E.P. Foster Library – June 22 & 23
651 East Main Street, Ventura
Screening: Friday, June 22, 6 pm
Interview Sessions: June 23, 12noon – 5pm
To apply for interview participation:
https://www.storycenter.org/ventura-fire-stories-june2018

Napa County – July 12-14
Napa Public Library
580 Coombs Street, Napa
Screening: July 12, 7 pm
Interview Sessions: Friday, July 13, 1pm-5 pm
Saturday, July 14, 1pm -6 pm

More About Story Center

StoryCenter is an internationally recognized hub of story-based educational and community-centered media practices in service of social justice and social change. Best known as the founders of the Digital Storytelling movement, they work with a cross section of civic institutions in developing programs that capture the lives and experiences of ordinary citizens, and teach accessible media engagement practices to working professionals in the fields of education, health, social services, and human rights. For more information about StoryCenter, contact Joe Lambert, joe@storycenter.org or call 510-292-6513 #CalFireStoryProject

Wilder than Wild: Fire, Forests, and the Future reveals how fire suppression and climate change have exposed our forests and wildland-urban landscapes to large, high intensity wildfires, while greenhouse gases released from these fires contribute to global warming. In this one-hour documentary, filmmaker Kevin White takes us on a journey from the Rim Fire of 2013 to the wine country wildfires of 2017. Stephen Most or Kevin White will attend a number of the screenings.

California Listens: Stories about Being Californian is a project of the California State Library being implemented by Berkeley based StoryCenter over the last three years.

The primary goal is to collect ten 2-4 minute digital stories from the more than 50 Public Libraries around the State of California. The stories will exist as a collection for the State Library at archive.org, and for participating libraries.

This event is free and open to the public.
For additional information, contact Nancy Schram, Ventura County Library Director at (805) 256-8535