RIDGEWOOD, N.J. (WCBS 880) — A written account from a doctor. A video from schoolchildren learning at home. A photo of empty shelves at a grocery store. Put them all together and they tell the story of coronavirus.
History is now and libraries are seizing the moment chronicling the pandemic for posterity.
At the Ridgewood Public Library, history librarian Sarah Kiefer will accept all formats — written, audio, video, photo.
"Most historians will tell you history is now, in the future we will be reading about this," said Kiefer. "It would be great to have anything from medical staff because the first responders, everybody on the frontline, it is very important to record what is going on in the medical field."
While collecting newspaper clippings she was stunned to see just how quickly the level of urgency escalated.
For context, she has looked in their archive.
"Say the 1918 pandemic — how it changed the medical field, how it changed some aspects of society so you do know that as a result of this pandemic there's going to be major changes in the medical field and possibly in how society handles things. I believe Dr. Fauci had reported that if handshaking never comes back he's OK with that. It'll be interesting to see if that's a social norm that goes away," Kiefer said.
As residents of Ridgewood submit their accounts, Kiefer has detected a theme.
"Though it's not universal, each of them have a segment of hope to them," Kiefer said.