But while websites such as Ancestry.com and 23andme.com can help trace a person’s lineage back hundreds of years or use DNA to unearth genetic treasures, such sites tend to have one thing in common: “Just the facts, ma’am.”

Sure, it’s exciting to learn that your grandfather fought in World War I. But how much more revealing and meaningful would it be to know that he survived 48 days in the Argonne Forest dodging German bullets at every turn?

Those detailed stories tend to come to us through what is formally known as oral history — information passed down through generations by word of mouth.

It’s that type of history the Charles Page Library has set its sights on helping residents preserve. On Jan. 19, the library will offer the first session of what organizers hope will become a monthly program to teach patrons how to preserve their oral history.

Library Manager Sarah Dawson said participants at the session — scheduled from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. that Thursday — are invited to bring someone along with whom they’d like to share their stories — a relative or even just a friend.

After some introductions and instructions, participants will pair off and share their stories, and then — going a step beyond traditional oral history — they will take some time to write down their stories in provided journals.

Library staff members will also help them record their stories if participants have a smartphone, and they will help get the written stories saved onto provided flash drives so they’ll have digital copies as well as the physical copies.

None of the information will remain in the possession of the library.

Library Customer Service Associate Jamye Landis comes at the project from a historian’s perspective. As a former director and curator at the Sand Springs Cultural and Historical Museum, she did a little bit of oral history researching the area.

“That was one of the best things about working at the museum was getting to hear everyone’s stories about being here in Sand Springs,” she said.

“If you can imagine what it would mean to you to hear the voice of your own grandmother or great-grandmother and their experiences of what their time was like and how valuable that would be to you, why wouldn’t you want to give that gift to your own kids and grandkids?”

Landis said passing down such stories is the way to know ancestors as people — things such as their hobbies or heroes or even their favorite soup — and not just as names on paper.

“Those kinds of things make such a big difference in feeling like you know someone, so passing that down is wonderful,” she said.

Landis also said it’s important to remember that people don’t have to have led made-for-the-headlines-type lives for their stories to be important.

“Everyone has a story,” she said. “What you’re giving is your personality and your life experiences and your perspective, and that’s invaluable.”

Dawson said the programming, which is being offered thanks to a grant from the Friends of the Helmerich Library, seems like a great fit for the Charles Page Library, which has a significantly older population compared to other library branches.

“We have a lot of seniors who come into the library, and they are always asking for genealogy help,” she said, adding that one of her biggest goals for the project is simply to make visitors aware of the technology and resources available to them at the library, regardless of whether it spurs continued interest in genealogy research or perhaps even writing a memoir.

“The goal of this is to be a starting point,” Dawson said. “Sand Springs is a great community, and we really want to deepen that sense of community.

“I would really like this to become a monthly thing where each month I put a different prompt up,” giving people topics for conversation starters.

“Sometimes you just need to come hang out and talk to people,” she said. “The bonus is if I can teach them about some library resources, too.”