Congratulations to the Sonoma County Library in winning the California Library Association’s Best In Show award in 2021! This recognition of their Sonoma Responds project is well-deserved. We here at the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) feel as though we played a small part in it as we partnered with the Library on the Community Diary Project/Sonoma Responds. More than 55 SSU service-learning classes have submitted materials so far, including personal reflections, interviews with COVID survivors, and educators transitioning to distance learning classes.
“We wanted to THANK YOU for SSU’s partnership to make Sonoma Responds a project that truly documents our community’s resiliency throughout the pandemic,” stated Zayda Delgado, Special Collections Librarian, Sonoma County History & Genealogy Library.
The Library did an incredible job in marketing this opportunity to the public. Participants submitted a wide array of documentation in the forms of artwork, video, poetry, photography, music, and much more. Many of which are showcased in the Library’s Awards Video. All of this was in an effort to document our lives during the pandemic and preserve this moment for future generations.
Watching the video was quite emotional for me personally. It’s interesting how all of us have been through a very overwhelming period but don’t always take a moment to reflect on it. Seeing the video and I would imagine, viewing many of the submissions, may bring up feelings of trauma and fear and at the same time how flexible and adaptable we had to be to get through it all. There is also the feeling of loss, which is something we will have to deal with for years to come.
“The CLA PRExcellence award is very meaningful to us because it recognizes one of the primary goals of Sonoma Responds – to be a place where community members could share, reflect on and collectively process the personal impact of the pandemic and give voice to their experiences. By designing, building and promoting a participatory archive, the team also laid the groundwork for future digital community projects,” stated Joanna Kolosov, Special Collections Librarian & Archivist, Sonoma County History and Genealogy.
The awards committee commented on the project saying, “During this extraordinary time libraries have gone to extra lengths to continue their outreach but it was this project that positioned the library squarely into the community; directly involved patrons and actively welcomed everyone to equally have a voice and to contribute...”
The CCE would like to thank the Sonoma County Library for partnering with us and taking on this very meaningful and personal project for the community.