Stories of Pomona will be screened today at Pomona Public Library

A dozen stories about life in Pomona and the Inland Valley collected with the help of a state grant will be screened this afternoon at the Pomona Public Library.

The California of the Past Digital Story Telling Video Screening and Reception will begin at 1 p.m. in the library's Public Conference Room.

The library is at 625 S. Garey Ave.

During the two-hour event, guests will see some of the stories that have been collected with connections to recent events and stories linked to important events in the city's history.

So far, the library has collected about 17 stories that are available for viewing online at www.digitalstorystation.com and then doing a search with the keyword "Pomona."

In addition to the short stories, a few out-takes collected during the recording sessions will be screened, said Bruce Guter, library systems manager.

The story telling project has been carried out with a grant from the California State Library, Guter said.

Recently, library personnel learned the grant for the project was extended for another year, which allowed the library to gather more stories and to create digital versions of stories recorded on audio tape as part of a 1963 project.

The collection of tapes contains stories about a number of prominent city residents related to significant events in Pomona history, Guter said.

Library personnel encourage people of all ages, English and non-English speakers, to record a story, Guter said.

"We want to make this as inclusive as we can, Guter said.

Stories can be as much as five minutes long and should have a beginning, middle and end.

Stories can be about something that happened decades ago or more recent and show an aspect of life in Pomona.

For information, send an e-mail to the library at library@ci.pomona.ca.us or call the special collections room at (909) 620-3709 or visit the special collections room from 2 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays.