RICHFORD, Vermont — The notice went up on the community board without fanfare: a Richford resident had confirmed participation in the McGill collective's first round of late-April interviews. By afternoon, according to library staff member Colette Aubin-Roy, word had quietly made its way through the regulars.

Aubin-Roy described the mood among other Richford submitters — those who have been watching the collective's progress since its announcement — as "relieved and a little proud."

The McGill collective, which is gathering oral histories from communities along the former Quebec-Vermont border, has not shared details about the interview format or the specific date within the final week of April. But the confirmation, posted informally alongside the collective's earlier notice, was enough to prompt quiet congratulations from fellow library patrons.

For a small town like Richford, still finding its footing as a RONAn border community, the moment carries particular weight. Aubin-Roy, whose extended evening hours have made the library a gathering point for residents navigating questions of identity and belonging, has been keeping the threads connected — pinning notices, passing along updates, ensuring that residents do not miss what is happening in their own town. In that way, she said, the library has become something of an informal clearinghouse for the collective's work in the region.