Sharing Memories of World War II
Through LSCA Projects

The Illinois Valley Library System, now part of the Alliance Library System, received an LSCA grant late in FY94 to "create a unique informational and inspirational documentary style look at World War II POWs/veterans who are taking their stories and experiences to children through intergenerational programs at libraries." During several earlier programs with veterans and youth it became apparent that the youth did not know very much about World War II and one knew of it only as the "stories grandfather tells." Their knowledge came from textbooks with little personal relevance.

The result of the grant was a 16-minute video. We Were There: World War II, in which three former POWs from the Springfield area, Glenn Kniss, Wes Poore and Bill Gray, made presentations to middle/junior high school students at public libraries in Pekin and Eureka. The veterans discussed their training, life in the army, the circumstances of their capture and their treatment while in prison camps. The students asked questions and looked at weapons, clothing, food samples, flags, medals, money and pictures provided by the veterans. The students were most impressed and indicated they had learned a lot, not only about the war, but also about filming. Filming was a much more tedious job than most had anticipated. Several students indicated how much they appreciated what the veterans had gone through during the war. Local TV stations and newspaper reporters attended the filming and provided additional publicity for the project.

The idea was conceived by a committee headed by Lori Bell, consultant for the Heart of Illinois Talking Book Center (now the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center), and Jeanne Flynn, outreach consultant at the Illinois State Library, who had worked with veterans on previous programs. Also on the committee were Nancy Scott from the Eureka Public Library District, Joan Wood from Pekin Public Library, Eileen Sheppard from the River Road Talking Book Service, LaRae Muselman from the Heart of Illinois Talking Book Center and Pam Lovell from the Simantel Group, an advertising/PR firm from Peoria that was hired to shoot, produce, create and edit the video. Lori Bell served as project director. Planning began in May with filming in September and distribution prior to Veterans Day.

In addition to the video, a packet was created with information helpful in developing a World War II program. The Illinois State Library created a bibliography of books about World War II. The Heart of Illinois Talking Book Center staff created a bibliography of World War II books for children, a bibliography of books available from the Talking Book Centers and a bibliography of non-print materials. The veterans created a list of questions and answers about the war. Also included were a list of veterans groups and programming ideas for libraries, schools, institutions or groups.

The audio portion of the video was recorded on cassette tape and made available to visually and physically disabled patrons in each of the Illinois Talking Book Centers.

The video and program package were widely advertised throughout the state to library systems, veteran's groups, nursing homes, schools and public libraries. More than 150 copies were sold to groups for a cost recovery price of $10. Evaluation forms included with the package rated the program package as "excellent." Schools found it particularly valuable as a teaching tool and many other organizations used it for programming. Copies of this video are no longer available for purchase.

Since 1995 was the 50th anniversary of the end of the World War II and there was a great deal of media interest in the war, it was logical to ask for another grant to expand the video, add closed-captioning and make it available to network and cable TV stations, especially those with public access channels. The FY95 LSCA grant was used to create a 29-minute closed-captioned video titled World War II: POW Stones. LaRae Muselman served as project director.

Dennis Komac from St. George Productions in Springfield used the original videotapes, reedited them and added archival footage from World War II and closed-captioning, In addition to VHS copies, he produced

*LaRae Muselman, Outreach Librarian, Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center, Pekin.

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3/4-inch broadcast masters that were offered to local network stations and cable stations throughout the state. These are ideally suited for broadcast on local public access cable channels. Nineteen stations accepted the offer of a loan of a broadcast master. Some stations aired the program directly and others made copies for later use. Broadcase masters are still available for loan to any TV station.

The VHS copies were publicized throughout Illinois and copies were donated to each library system, Talking Book Center and the Illinois State Library. Announcements also were published in American Libraries and School Library Journal and on the Internet. Information about the video was also placed on the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center's Web page at http://www.rsa.lib.il.us/~mitbc/heart.htm. About 100 copies have been sold in Illinois and 13 other states. Copies were ordered by libraries, schools, veterans, veteran's hospitals and nursing homes. Schools have been the biggest purchasers. The video is periodically promoted and orders are still being received. Copies are available for $10 (cost recovery).

Both videos have been extremely popular and very positive compliments have been received. It has been very useful for use in schools during their World War II unit and for programing for veterans or seniors in libraries, nursing homes, etc. The personal accounts bring the war into reality as opposed to the textbook approach students receive in school. We do know that some schools have tried to duplicate the experience using veterans from their own area. It is an eye-opening, thought-provoking experience for youth and brings back memories for seniors. It opened dialogue in many families with relatives willing to share their experiences with the younger generations. It is difficult to assess the impact the film has had through its showings to various groups in various settings. Each viewer sees something different or recalls something related. Discussions after a showing bring forth a variety of perspectives and experiences.

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