Wolf Tales Initiative

Recordings of students, faculty, staff, and alumni reveal university history through the voices of the people who lived it.

Wolf Tales: Sharing Stories of the Pack. From NC State University Libraries

Overview

Through the Wolf Tales initiative, the NC State University Libraries collects, preserves, and shares recordings of students, faculty, staff, and alumni, revealing university history through the voices of the people who lived it. It contributes to the historical record, supplementing the University Archives, in order to teach future generations about the various experiences of our campus community, and it helps provide a more comprehensive picture of NC State's history.

Members of the NC State community make video or audio recordings in which they share memories of the events, people, and places that shaped their time at the university. Recordings are typically 10 minutes or less, and they can be made with personal devices or with tool kits that are checked out from the Libraries.

Recordings are submitted to the Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center, which preserves and makes them accessible. They, along with transcripts, may also be shared online through our Rare & Unique Digital Collections website, which currently hosts hundreds of Wolf Tales recordings made during the past several years.

How We Did It

Wolf Tales began in 2016 as an effort to record more voices that make up NC State’s history. Originally, the Libraries offered Wolf Tales Recording Days and provided recording staff for campus events. Beginning in 2025, Wolf Tales video and audio tool kits have been made available for the NC State community through the Rupert Nacoste Libraries Wolf Tales Endowment.

After a consultation with Special Collections staff, tool kits can be checked out for a week by NC State students, staff, and faculty for event use or for self-recording.