ARCHIVES | librarylibby

Hello!

I have worked for over ten years as an archivist, both in university archives and special collections, and in a government archives/public records context. In my current position at Elon University, I developed and was recognized with a university-wide Innovation Award for my work with zines. Additionally, I collaborate with colleagues across disciplines to teach critical archives and library literacy using both institutional archives and zine collections. In particular, I have supported LGBTQIA+ students, building collections to provide more queer and trans representation in the archives, and creating spaces for LGBTQIA+ community around zines. I actively work to decenter white cis-heteropatriarchal narratives, particularly in my collecting, teaching, exhibits, online resources, and programming, as well as in the spaces I create both online and in person. I am a member of the 2016 cohort of Archives Leadership Institute at Berea College. I am currently under contract for a book, “Stories on Skin: a Librarians Guide to Tattoos as Personal Archives,” with my mentor, Terry Baxter. Please feel free to get to know me here: https://www.librarylibby.com/

Professional Experience

Elon University, Elon, North Carolina

Assistant Librarian and Zine Archivist, June 2017-present

Co-developed and helped to teach “Philosophy of Archives” course with Philosophy faculty colleague Lauren Guilmette, including critical archives instruction and zine workshopping
Developed series of online teach-ins to put archivists in conversation with philosophers on topics including: Queering Archives; Indigenous Intervention into History and Memory; Refusal and Repair: Black Women as Memory Workers; and Zines for Radical Resistance.
Embedded archives instruction in archival research, history and memory, and zines
Developed a zine collection and engaged zine instruction with faculty across disciplines.
Supervise and mentor student workers in digital humanities, processing, and zines
Serve on Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Board
Utilize ArchivesSpace, CONTENTdm, ESRI StoryMaps, and other digital platforms for collection management, digital access, and online exhibits
Provide reference to collections for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other researchers

Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records, Phoenix, Arizona

Archivist, March 2011 – May 2017

Provided reference to researchers on the records at the State Archives
Processed complex government collections
Coordinated with government agencies, community groups, and individuals on contributing their records to the state archives. In charge of all accessioning.
Classroom and community instruction on research and processing collections.
Coordinated tours of state archives building, organize thematic displays of collections
Developed and maintained websites and a blog related to the Arizona State Archives, as well as professional organizations and collaborative work.

Education

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

Master of Library and Information Studies, Master of Archival Studies, May 2009

Coursework and internships/professional experience, including processing, preservation of photographs, preservation of digital records, and building online exhibits
Completed practicum at Multnomah County Special Collections (Portland, Oregon)

Portland State University, Portland, Oregon

B.A. History, cum laude, Spring, 2006

Coursework focusing on women’s/gender, environmental, and public History
Completed senior capstone project on oral history
Interned with the Library of Congress Veterans Oral History Project

Select Programming

The Past, Present, and Future of Queer Comics (Online, 2021) - Organized and secured funding through WGSS for online panel to talk about queer comics.
An Afternoon with the Audre Lorde Collection (Online, 2020) - Organized and secured funding through Elon WGSS to host Holly Smith to talk about the Audre Lorde papers and approaching history and memory work with radical love.
Reparative Archives Workshop (Online, 2020) - Co-organized and secured LSTA grant funding to offer two full-day workshops with Lae’l Hughes-Watkins (University of Maryland, Project STAND) on Reparative Archives. Offered online due to pandemic.
Care and Feeding of Your Intern Symposium (Tucson, 2015) - Lead symposium organizer, secured LSTA grant funding to bring archivists Maureen Callahan and Rebecca Goldman
The Activist Archivist Symposium (Tempe, 2013) - Lead organizer, secured LSTA grant funding to bring Archival Studies professors Randall Jimerson and David Wallace
Native American Archives ( Flagstaff, 2012) - Co-organized and helped to secure funding to bring Indigenous archivist Jennifer O’Neal and NAGPRA Coordinator Jaime Lavallee

Select Presentations and Workshops

Wake Forest University, Invited Panelist, (Online, October 2021)

“Creativity, History, and Zines: A Conversation with Archivists”https://youtu.be/lCJmrKxdMpQ

Society of North Carolina Archivists Annual Meeting, Online (April 2021)

“Building a Community of Care around Archives, Memory, and Complex Histories”

https://echo360.org/media/a4b7d0e2-11cc-4936-a694-5a87246c8dad/public

North Carolina Library Association. (Winston-Salem, NC, October 2019)

“The Spaces Between: Critical Partnerships between an Academic Library and Cultural Center to Foster Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”

Project STAND Symposium, Kingston, RI, June 2019

“Centering the Marginal: Toward Inclusivity in the Documentation of Student Struggle.” Invited speaker. Spoke on supporting queer and trans students in archives.

Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas (August 2019)

“Archivists as Teachers” – presented on work embedding archival instruction in Critical Whiteness course (Philosophy)

Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting, Cleveland, Ohio (August 2015)

“Mind your own business” – panel on communities which do not wish to be documented

Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting, San Diego, California (August 2012)

Presented on “Tattoos as Personal Records” – LINK to session

Publications/Writing

Stories on Skin: A Librarian’s Guide to Tattoos as Personal Archives (Under Contract), co-authoring a book on tattoos as self-documentation and reconceptualizing “archival.”

“Metrics and Matrices: Surveying the Past to Create a Better Future,” American Archivist, published fall 2014. Co-authored with Jonathan Pringle. https://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article/77/2/459/24246/Metrics-and-Matrices-Surveying-the-Past-to-Create

Recognitions and Service

Lavender Graduation/Gender and LGBTQIA Center Employee of the Year (2020-2021)

University-wide award for supporting LGBTQIA students through Queer Creatives/Zine Initiatives

Phoenix Innovation Award (2018-2019)

University-wide award for building a zine collection and zine program in Belk Library

Archives Leadership Institute (June 2016)

Completed practicum planning for Archivist Swap, a program to facilitate skill-sharing and provide funding for archivists to travel to different institutions and gain new expertise.

Service

Elon Women, Gender, and Sexualities Studies Board (2020-present)

Attend meetings, assist with strategic planning, programming for WGSS related speakers

oSTEM at Elon - Founding Advisor (2019-present)

Asked to be advisor for Elon’s Out in STEM, an organization for queer STEM students

Arizona Archives Alliance (AZAA) (2010 – 2017)

Responsible for organizing and securing funding for symposium series
Worked to redefine organization as Arizona’s archives professional organization to support and advocate for collaborative digital projects and providing workshops

Arizona Archives Matrix Working Group (September 2010 – 2016)

Served on team of archivists for designing statewide collaborative collection development tool to identify under-documented communities, work toward more inclusive archives