WINDSOR — As director of the Windsor Public Library, Barbara Ball is always looking for ways to build a stronger community.

That’s one of the reasons she’s delighted the library was chosen to host a new storytelling program called “Celebrating the Stories of Windsor,” which focuses on storytelling as a means of creating connections between the town’s residents.

The fourth workshop in the program, which started last November, will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10, at the Windsor Public Library located at 43 State St.

Led by Marv Klassen-Landis, an Upper Valley artist and performer, the workshop will focus on teaching participants interview skills to prepare them for the next part of the project: Interviewing current and former Windsor residents about their lives.

“It’s a great way to connect residents and … celebrate our town,” Ball said. “It can a be little quirky story about what happened yesterday or why they moved to Windsor.”

The project was inspired, in part, by “250 Years/250 People: Windsor Vermont,” a book of photographs by Nate Larson and other collaborators that was published in 2012 in honor of Windsor’s 250th anniversary, which was celebrated in 2011.

The interviews are expected to take place over the next few months. Those stories will then be compiled into an anthology that will be released during a celebration at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 16 at the Windsor Welcome Center. The program is being funded by a $4,000 Vermont Arts Council grant.

Laurissa Gough and her 11-year-old son, Ave, have attended every workshop. Gough had attended previous events in the library in the past modeled after “The Moth,” a storytelling program.

“I feel like it’s been nice to share stories with these people and get to know people,” said Gough, who has lived in Windsor since 2020.

The workshops have introduced her to residents she wouldn’t have met elsewhere, she said. They’ve also provided her son with opportunities to meet and interact with people across a wide age range.

“By doing this, his eyes have become more open to the fact that everybody has valuable stories, no matter what your age, no matter if you’ve lived in the same place your whole life or if you’ve traveled around,” Gough said.

Everyone has “rich and deep and meaningful stories” regardless of their life experiences, Gough said. “Sharing them really brings us closer together because we relate, learn, laugh or cry.”

Long-time Windsor resident and artist Ham Gillett has participated in the workshops as both a performer and as a resident. One of the aspects of the project he likes best is that it involves stories from people of all ages and does not solely focus on people whose families have lived in Windsor for generations.

“It’s a snapshot of Windsor, who lives here and what the community represents in 2025,” Gillett said. “It’s just getting out into the community and helping us to know our neighbors and who’s here, who makes up this wonderful town that we live in.”

For more information visit windsorlibrary.org/csw. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.