Belmont library Makerspace helps preserve veteran’s story

A family history becomes a podcast

A San Carlos resident used the Belmont library’s Makerspace to produce a nine-episode podcast about her grandfather’s 30-year military career. The project turns a family account of military service into a recorded series.

The podcast focuses on the resident’s grandfather and his time in the military. Its nine-episode format gives the story a defined series structure rather than treating it as a single recording.

The library’s role

Belmont library’s Makerspace supported the project. Makerspaces give community members access to tools and work areas for creating projects, and in this case the space was used to self-produce an audio series.

The resident’s use of the Makerspace shows how a library facility can support personal storytelling as well as other creative work. The result is a podcast centered on one veteran’s career and the family member who documented it.

Preserving a personal record

The project creates an audio record of the grandfather’s military experience. By producing nine episodes, the resident has organized the story as a series that can be listened to over multiple installments.

The podcast also connects San Carlos and Belmont through a local library resource. A resident from San Carlos used equipment and space at the Belmont library to preserve a family story about three decades of military service.

The project’s central subjects are the veteran’s career, the family history surrounding it and the role of the library Makerspace in helping create the finished podcast.