Orland library awarded technology grant

Orland teens have an opportunity to practice their photography and writing skills thanks to a grant awarded to the Orland Library that is providing digital cameras and a laptop for their use.

Fifteen students, aged 13 to 18, may sign up for this 10-week project that begins Oct. 7 at the library.

Youth librarian Jody Meza said she is excited about the grant from the California Council for the Humanities that will engage local teens in exploring and investigating their community using digital cameras, direct observation, and the library’s resources.

The project, How I See It: My Place, is part of a statewide program of the Humanities Council under its California Storiesinitiative involving 21 California libraries.

A culminating exhibit of photographs and writing about the youths’ discoveries will be on view at the Orland Library at the conclusion of the project. The exhibit will kick off Dec. 13, the day of Orland’s Centennial Christmas celebration downtown. It will continue for a few weeks, so people can wander in and see what the kids did, she said.

She said the libraries will use a curriculum specially developed by the Council and Council-donated equipment and materials, including the five digital cameras, a printer and a computer.

As part of the project, the young adults at each library will curate an exhibit for the community and organize an opening event, council officials said.

Meza and library staff believe this project will attract local teens, create stronger connections between young people and their

community, promote intergenerational understanding and civic

interest, and highlight the role of the library as a center of

community cultural life, she said.

“We want them to appreciate history and where they came from,” Meza said. “We want them to be proud of Orland.”

Most of the grants went to big libraries in Southern California and the Bay area, she said, so it is a great opportunity for Orland youth to participate.

The access to technology is another benefit to kids here, Meza added, since some might not have it otherwise.

Project photos will focus on a half-mile radius of the library, she added, so there will likely be a lot of photos of the park and downtown Orland’s older buildings.

“We want to show them how things have changed,” Meza said. “People have added new signs or new businesses occupy old buildings.”

The Orland library will get to keep the cameras and equipment, she said, and a cash grant should pay for after-school snacks and other expenses.

Local historian Gene Russell plans to give the youth a walking tour of downtown Orland pointing out historical sites and companies.

Orland has numerous old buildings on Fourth and Fifth streets including the Masonic Lodge, the Odd Fellows Hall, the Hicks Building and the Alta Schmidt House now used as a museum by the Orland Historical and Cultural Society of which Russell is president.

There also are many vintage houses on these and surrounding streets including Victorians, craftsman-style homes, bungalows and cottages, so students should have plenty to see.

“We have a goal to create a connection between kids and the community they may not have had,” she said. “It is exciting.”

Ralph Lewin, executive director of the California Council for the

Humanities, said that the project is loosely based on the work of

Harvard landscape historian John Stilgoe, who sees everyday landscape

as a historical record and wants to awaken people to the excitement of

exploring their surroundings.

In addition to its observational intent, the program also aims to spark the young participants’ interest in the humanities and encourage them to pursue their newly developed skills and interests through higher education and careers, officials said.

In addition to the library exhibits, the youths’ work will be featured

in an online exhibit on the Council’s website in spring 2009.

Youth interested in participating in this project should contact Jody

Meza, Youth Services Librarian, at 865-1640 or attend the first

meeting Oct. 7th at 4:00 p.m. in the library off Mill Street.

For information about the Council’s youth projects and its California

Stories initiative, visit http://www.californiastories.org/ and

http://www.calhum.org/programs/HowISeeIt_overview.htm.