StoryLab gives Lynn Valley a Free Space to tell its Stories

Lynn Valley residents do not need their own recording studio to start a podcast, make a film or preserve old family photographs. StoryLab, located on the second floor of Lynn Valley Library, gives the public free access to equipment for creating and preserving digital stories. The digital creativity space at 1277 Lynn Valley Rd. includes an audio booth, video studio, creation stations and a digitization station. It also offers a 3D printing service.

The idea is simple: give people the tools and let them decide how they want to tell their stories. The audio booth is a seven-by-eight-foot sound-treated space equipped with microphones, headphones and a sound mixer. It can be used for podcasts, spoken word, music and other audio projects. For those who prefer images to sound, the 14-by-15-foot video studio includes cameras and lighting equipment. It is also sound-treated.

Both spaces are available for free and are designed for beginners as well as people with more experience. Residents can then edit audio, video and images at StoryLab's Mac creation stations, which have digital creativity software. But storytelling does not always mean creating something new.

StoryLab's digitization station gives Lynn Valley residents another way to tell their stories by preserving pieces of their past. Old photographs, negatives, CDs and scrapbooks can be converted into digital formats using the station's computer and software. The station can be booked for free. That means a box of family photographs or an aging scrapbook can become part of a digital family archive rather than being left to deteriorate with time.

Preserving those stories was part of the thinking behind StoryLab when it opened in March 2021. The space had been planned for years and was built in a former server room at Lynn Valley Library. Its opening was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, North Vancouver District Public Library director Jacqueline van Dyk said the pandemic had created stories of "resilience, grief, and of community togetherness."