WORLD STORY BANK
Until world literacy rates began to take off less than a century ago, accumulated human wisdom, knowledge and experience were passed down from one generation to the next in a spellbinding chain of transmission formed from folklore and traditional stories.
Stories acted as an instruction manual to the world. They shaped us and changed us, telling us both who we are and who we might be.
Yet with today’s growing mass urbanisation, the relentless expansion of social media, and the emergence of AI, this ancient and precious resource for teaching and healing is being threatened like never before
Every year, an estimated 500 stories disappear forever. Which means that as many as ten folktales every week are lost to humanity – stories that will never be heard or told again.
That is why, now, the World Story Bank has been created – to act before it’s too late.
Launched at London’s Athenaeum Club last September by The Scheherazade Foundation, the World Story Bank has three goals:
- to protect and preserve the world’s folktales
- to raise international awareness of the threat to folktales, and champion ‘mythodiversity’ – our rich legacy of stories and legends
- to ‘rewild’ traditional stories back into the fabric of society using all available formats and media in order to combat the rise in mental health problems and other contemporary ills
High-profile figures such as Masterchef creator Franc Roddam, rock musician Robert Fripp, and Star Wars actor Ayesha Dharker are already supporting the campaign.
Our plan is to work with governments, non-profit organisations and people from all walks of life in order to weave this fragile and ancient wisdom system back into global culture.
We are currently in discussions with UNESCO and other potential global partners to make our goals achievable, and have established an international board of special advisers made up of leading figures from the worlds of science, culture, technology and business to help chart a way forward.
We want you to be a part of the World Story Bank by telling us your favourite folktale or traditional story, and what it means to you. What has it taught you? How has it guided you? By clicking on the Comments page, you can share your story about a story – and read about the significance that traditional tales have had for others.
And we’re asking for your help in other ways, too. The World Story Bank can only come into being with your support. We urgently need funds to move beyond our launch and begin the next stage of the work - the creation of new digital and analogue services that will draw on the power of stories to heal and instruct at a time when the world needs them more than ever.
This is an opportunity to make a difference. We want you to be a part of the World Story Bank initiative. There is still time to save this precious asset of humanity and weave traditional stories back into society.
But we must act fast!
Thank you
The Scheherazade Foundation