Angel Diaz, Candidate for Council

"I found that people do want the opportunity to come together, build networks, share resources, think creatively, and contribute to the profession. They just need to feel safe, secure, and welcomed in these spaces."

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

I am the Curator for the California Ethnic & Multicultural Archives (CEMA) at the University of California Santa Barbara Library. In this role, I carry out work related to collection development, relationship building and maintenance, liaising with ethnic studies departments, education and outreach. It is an honor to steward documents and creative works that represent communities of color in my home state. I also recently served as Interim Director for the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB Library (July 2023-January 2025). In both these roles I have led, coordinated, and provided strategic vision for the department. Throughout the last 12 years that I have been in the profession, I have served many roles, including university archivist at a Big 10 university, institutional archivist at a county transit agency, and temporary/project archivist at two academic libraries. I was a 2020-2021 fellow in the Association of Research Libraries' Leadership Career Development Program cohort. My interests have revolved around issues of labor, leadership, primary source instruction, and DEI-centered collection development and access. My professional interests have always maintained both a local and national focus. I am a co-founder of the Los Angeles Archivists Collection (2014) and served on the Executive Committee for LA as Subject (2016-2018). In SAA I have been honored to serve in positions throughout the Society. Some personal highlights include serving as chair of the 2022 Nominating Committee, as a Steering Committee member for the College & University Archives Section (2020-2022), on the 2020 Annual Meeting Program Committee, and as Co-Chair for the Archivists and Archives of Color Section (2016-2018). In 2019, SAA recognized my work alongside colleagues with the Council Resolution Honoring the UCLA Six for archival advocacy. Since 2020, I have presented at conferences on issues related to best practices for archival term positions, community-based archives, DEIA in collections acquisitions, Chicana/o/x and Latine art, and leadership succession planning.

DIVERSITY STATEMENT

(Each candidate prepared a diversity statement according to SAA guidelines.)

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), in addition to accessibility, is a commitment to understanding the systems of oppression and inequities at the foundation of our workplaces, government, and society. As well as evolving that understanding to actions and practices that aim to reconcile, restore, and support success to all individuals. My understanding of these principles and work has evolved as I've learned and reflected (and continue to) on the outcome of my own actions and own biases, and as I continue to make the conscious effort to listen, learn, advocate, and act.As I move through the professional sphere, I celebrate my identity while recognizing my positionality. I am Mexican American—born, raised, and educated in California. I was a first gen college student, first making the decision to become an educator before pursuing librarianship. I worked first as a graduate student, then as a project processing archivist at UCLA's Chicano Studies Research Center Library. This position was significant for me personally because I saw my life and experiences reflected within the Chicana/o/x-focused archival collections. Furthermore, my professional goals were validated by the Mexican-American librarian and many of the departmental staff with whom I had shared experiences. The time I spent at the CSRC was significant in shaping my professional attitudes and interests, and it's a unique experience I try to foster as I work to develop collections and share archival materials with others. Furthermore, building these types of collections is intentionally targeted and subjective. Archival practitioners are still having to fight to make this an accepted practice across the country. If elected, I hope that I can provide guidance and support to my peers who may also find themselves in these situations.DEI efforts in the workplace see the greatest success when they are recognized and valued from the top-down, and when they become a systematic effort. Beyond statements or annual gestures, institutional progress is made when power structures are assessed and financial commitments are made. This is why it is so important that SAA maintain its commitment to this work throughout the coming years. The archival profession is evolving, and SAA should support that evolution—through continued commitment of efforts to analyze who is in the profession and in what positions, funding for grants, awards, fellowships, etc., and maintaining vigilant watch over and responding to actions of those in power.

QUESTION POSED BY NOMINATING COMMITTEE

How would you manage competing priorities for financial stability and meeting membership needs? What specific measures do you plan to pursue to guide the Society in alignment with its mission and strategic goals? What qualities and values would you bring to this role to ensure equitable and responsive governance of the Society?

CANDIDATE'S RESPONSE

SAA is in the final year of implementation of its 2023-2025 Strategic Plan. A key element to strategic plan work and implementation is assessment. How many goals of the Strategic Plan, as well as the DEIA Work Plan, have been achieved and to what extent? Are there elements of each plan that require adjustment or in-depth reflection?As I stated above, the archival profession is evolving, but as someone who manages undergraduates and sees at least one pursue a library degree a year, it is not necessarily reducing in numbers. Unfortunately, positions for entry-level and mid-career archivists continue to be precarious, offering only temporary positions and/or low salaries. This landscape prevents individuals from taking part in professional organizations, and may even lead them to leave the profession all together. Since goal 1 of SAA's Strategic Plan encompasses "Advocating for Archives and Archivists," I would want to focus on the work that has been done in this area. I was a co-founder of the Los Angeles Archivists Collective, starting the organization a year after graduating from my MLIS program, and found that people do want the opportunity to come together, build networks, share resources, think creatively, and contribute to the profession. They just need to feel safe, secure, and welcomed in these spaces. I would like to see SAA increase its involvement with graduate programs and regional organizations—community building begins at the local level. The would help promote the natural path from one's local work is to our national network.

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