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SALISBURY, MD---“Listening is an act of love,” said Dave Isay, creator of StoryCorps.  “It tells people that they matter and their time on Earth matters ….”

StoryCorps is about listening as people share their lives, and the famed National Public Radio project, which has recorded some 30,000 stories of everyday Americans since 2003, is coming to the Delmarva Peninsula in April.

Co-sponsored by Public Radio Delmarva, StoryCorps’ shiny Airstream trailer containing a portable recording studio will be parked at the Delaware Technical and Community College campus in Georgetown April 17-May 10.  Online signups begin Thursday, April 3.

StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, rivaling the famed Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Writers’ Project during the Great Depression.  Its process is wonderfully simple:

Two people—they may be family members or close friends—go into the recording booth for a 40-minute session.  One interviews the other on a subject of their choice, ranging from family heritage (such as school, work, marriage and raising children) to serious illness, war and other momentous events.

Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share and is preserved at the Library of Congress.  A copy is also archived at Public Radio Delmarva’s studios at ºÚÁÏÍø. 

StoryCorps has set up in locations as diverse as Times Square in New York City, and the Marine Corps’ Camp LeJeune, NC.  This will be the first time it has been in Delaware or Delmarva.   

Selected interviews will be edited for broadcast on WSCL 89.5 FM and WSDL 90.7 FM. Others will be edited and included in StoryCorps’ database for national broadcast on NPR.  “Everyone is invited to share his or her story,” said Gerry Weston, Public Radio Delmarva general manager.

A number of spots have been reserved exclusively for SU faculty and staff.  For reservations contact Weston at 410-543-6895.  For more information visit .