War Ink & the Contra Costa County Library In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, more than 2.5 million U.S. men and women have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. Over 7,000 have lost their lives. Those who have returned pay other costs. They struggle to process their wartime experiences, recover from profound losses and reintegrate into civilian life. The suddenness of the transition out of military service often results in a deep feeling of alienation and isolation among the veteran population. War Ink emerged out of a need to recognize veterans service and sacrifices, and to bridge the divide between the veteran and civilian communities. It is both an exhibit and forum, using tattoos as a springboard for California veterans to share their stories. Stark, beautiful, disturbing and often darkly humorous, these tattoos area visual expression of memories and emotions that can be difficult to discuss openly. And yet, the men and women who volunteered for this project were brave enough to describe the experiences behind their war ink. They tell stories of pride, loss, transformation, despair, resilience and hope. The goals for the project were to: Provide a public space that honors and recognizes veterans, while giving them a safe forum to tell their stories. Help civilians develop a deeper understanding of the veteran experience. Cultivate a meaningful and open dialogue about the veteran experience. Inspire action: spur visitors to learn more, reach out to veterans and tell others about this exhibit. Demonstrate that libraries collect and preserve stories of serious cultural significance. The Contra Costa County Library s (CCCL) strategic vision is community focused. It holds that the library system should be tied into the pulse of the community it serves. The library should bring different groups together to spark imagination, fuel potential and connect people with ideas and each other. Veterans make up a substantial part of this community. There are 60,108 veterans currently living in the county. Over the past few years, the library has worked to ensure that it is meeting their information needs, helping to promote access to education, employment and health resources. In 2012, the library developed a menu of veteran service events, an initiative that earned a National Association of Counties Achievement Award. The library soon realized, however, veteran needs go beyond access to information. The county was lacking cultural programs that could help recently returned veterans reintegrate or connect with others. The library had already participated in or created innovative shareable initiatives like Enki Library, an e-book platform and Discover & Go, which offers library cardholders free and low-cost tickets to museums and cultural events. War Ink, which collects and shares veterans stories, is a social resource for the over 60,000 veterans in Contra Costa County and 2 million veterans throughout California. War Ink is also a resource for anyone interested in history. The people of Contra Costa County have expressed a need for their library to collect and preserve local, regional and state history not just the big moments in civic history but also the stories of everyday lives. Learning about our past, whether 200 years ago or yesterday, helps us make sense of our world today. How War Ink Came to Be The exhibit s creators are Chris Brown, senior manager at Contra Costa County Library, and Jason Deitch.
Brown served as project director and grant writer, while Deitch served as veteran consultant. They developed and curated the site together and jointly conducted an exhaustive statewide search for veterans interested in participating in the project. They contacted nearly every vet center, including centers at every state university and the University of California. They also called hundreds of tattoo shops. Over 30 California library systems partnered in this effort, promoting the project locally. To document the veterans stories, bring the exhibit to life and make it accessible to the general public, Brown and Deitch built a coalition of diverse partners from the veteran, tattoo, museum, humanities, entertainment, art and tech communities. In late July 2014, the Contra Costa County Library brought together 24 veterans from over 15 counties at the Concord Vet Center. Over four days, producers from the StoryCorps Military Voices Initiative recorded the veterans stories, while renowned photographer Johann Wolf documented the vets and their tattoos. Video for the site was directed by Rebecca Murga, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran. Favorite Medium designed and developed the online exhibit in collaboration with the co-creators. War Ink was made possible through a number of grants and in-kind donations from Cal Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Pacific Library Partnership and StoryCorps. Measuring the Impact of War Ink The Contra Costa County Library launched War Ink on Veterans Day, November 11, 2014. In just two months, more than 24,000 visits to the exhibit were recorded. War Ink garnered national and international media coverage, and has been featured in Newsweek, PBS NewsHour, and KQED s Forum with Michael Krasny. In total, more than 150 news outlets covered the launch of the exhibit. These groups boast a collective print or broadcast impression figure of 10,737,994 and a collective web impression of 18,399,201 daily visits. The War Ink trailer was viewed more than 23,000 times, and the exhibit has logged more than 18,000 social media engagements. On November 17, 2014, Contra Costa Television and the County s Veterans Service Office featured War Ink on its monthly television show aimed at informing veterans and their families of available services and programs offered. The show, coming on the heels of the very public launch of the exhibit, attracted new and unique viewers because of the cross-promotion and marketing, resulting in connections made by vets to the County office that would otherwise not have happened. The County s Public Information Officer was also involved in the promotion of War Ink when the exhibit became a featured part of the County s annual Veterans Day Ceremony on November 4, 2014. News coverage resulting from PIO media advisories regarding the ceremony focused on the pending launch of War Ink, contributing to the media outreach for our local television and radio stations. The feedback we have received from the public has been steady and strong. Storytelling, particularly in a nontraditional manner, has struck a chord with our audience. We offered a mechanism for comments, and have been overwhelmed by the comments and testimonials: Comment 1: Thank you. I am so touched by the people, images, and stories of War Ink. It is an amazing project and deeply powerful. Everyone benefits when soldiers are seen for their humanity, not just their courage and sacrifice. The video and website are great resources and strong medicine. I'm the daughter of a veteran who has been in shelters, prisons, or hospitals for many years, including my entire childhood. I wonder how his life and mine would have been different if he'd found a place like War Ink to share his experience. Thank you for creating this platform and community for today's veterans."
Comment 2: Sincere congratulations on a truly excellent job of describing the stories that tattoos of American veterans tell. In my research on tattoos, yours is one of the most powerful and complete examples of the narrativity of tattoos that I have seen to date. I finished last year a Masters Degree in Folklore at UC Berkeley. Comment 3: Words cannot describe the feeling of normalcy my heart has right now after seeing your video on the wounded warrior project FB page I wish I could have been part of that story, but I just want to say thank you so much for such a wonderful, inspiring and REAL organization... I just want to thank you for making me feel normal again. God Bless you! Comment 4: I received an email featuring the article about your project that ran in Print magazine this week, and I finally had a chance to sit down and visit your site this evening. All I can say is WOW. Thank you for the amazing work! I've shared it via Twitter and FB and hope others will check it out. Watching the interviews gave so much insight to what veterans experience. It was really a surreal experience reading, listening and watching all the interviews. My hope is that some of my civilian friends who only hear/read about veterans and the war in media might check this out. It's important that everyone in our nation is aware of what it's really like to serve, and return home. Thank you for your hard work, and to all the veterans that contributed their time and stories. Here's to the success of your mission! May it reach far and wide, and open many eyes! Comment 5: Not much else, just thank you. For getting it, for letting us tell our stories in our way. Sincerely, Jennifer OIF III The Contra Costa County Library has made outreach to our residents a significant priority, looking continually for innovative ways to share information, highlight services, and feature programs that aren t traditionally associated with local government. War Ink offered us the opportunity to not only open the lines of communication to our veteran community, but also to encourage civilians to communicate with veterans with a fresh approach. Contra Costa County s Veterans Service Office has been among the benefactors, as many of the younger veterans who participated in or viewed War Ink became aware of the programs and services offered by that department after seeing the exhibit.
War Ink in the Press War Ink Featured in PBS NewsHour
War Ink Featured in Newsweek Contra Costa County Library--War Ink
War Ink Featured in Mashable Contra Costa County Library--War Ink
War Ink Featured on IMLS Blog by Director Susan H. Hildreth Contra Costa County Library--War Ink
War Ink Interview Featured on StoryCorps (688 Shares) Contra Costa County Library--War Ink
3,000 Users Like War Ink Facebook Page in Two Months Contra Costa County Library--War Ink
6,454 Users Like Wounded Warrior Post about War Ink in 24 Hours Contra Costa County Library--War Ink
War Ink Press Event at California Library Association Conference with Over 300 Attendees
War Ink Featured on Infopeople Website War Ink Featured on Contra Costa County Library Website
War Ink Featured on Los Angeles Public Library Website Contra Costa County Library--War Ink
War Ink Featured on Riverside Public Library Website Contra Costa County Library--War Ink
War Ink Featured on Monterey County Free Libraries Website Contra Costa County Library--War Ink
Screenshots from the War Ink Exhibit War Ink Logo
War Ink Chapter 1 Screenshot War Ink Chapter 1 Sample Screenshot
War Ink Chapter 2 Screenshot War Ink Chapter 2 Sample Screenshot
War Ink Chapter 3 Screenshot War Ink Chapter 3 Sample Screenshot
War Ink Chapter 4 Screenshot War Ink Chapter 4 Sample Screenshot