2026 Leadership Election Candidates

Just like Congress itself, it's election season for CPS as well. Below are the candidate statements for our three nominees this year. Be on the lookout for ballots in June. 

Vice-Chair/Chair Elect

Shir Bach, Congressional Papers Archivist, University of Vermont Silver Special Collections Library

I am a congressional papers archivist at the University of Vermont, where I work on a team project funded by a Senate Preservation Partnership Grant to process the papers of Senator Patrick Leahy. I joined the congressional papers world when starting this job in 2023, and I have served on the CPS Steering Committee since 2024. If elected for the vice-chair position, I would be excited to help steward the section's tradition of excellent virtual programming, as well as continuing to build our revamped newsletter and supporting the great work being done by the Electronic Records Committee to solicit and produce new content. I'm also excited by the opportunity to engage in more cross-section work with relevant partners like the Government Records Section, the Privacy and Confidentiality Section, and others.

Steering Committee Members (2)

Alex Adelmund, Assistant Archivist, Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas

I am an Assistant Archivsit with 4 years of experience in congressional archvies at the Dole Institute of Politics' Robert & Elizabeth Dole Archvies and Special Collections. I hold an M.A. in Museum Studies from the University of Kansas, a B.S. in Historic Preservation, and a B.A. in History, both from Southeast Missouri State University. I earned the title of Certified Archivist from the Academy of Certified Archivists in 2025.

I accession, process, and house archival materials related to Senator Bob and Elizabeth Dole's political and private career, as well as material critical to Kansas electoral history and national bipartisanship. Currently, I am processing Senator Elizabeth H. Dole's career papers, creating finding aids, managing reference requests, and overseeing the well-being of our collection spaces. 

Sally Blanchard-O'Brien, Congressional Papers Archivist, Univeristy of Vermont Silver Special Collections Library

Sally Blanchard-O’Brien (she/her) works as a congressional papers archivist and assistant professor at the University of Vermont Silver Special Collections Library. Sally has over a decade of experience with government records, holding previous roles at the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, and serving on the Library Commission for the City of Burlington, Vermont. She has also held leadership roles in professional organizations, including most recently the Society of American Archivists Web Archiving Section Steering Committee and the Executive Board of the New England Archivists.

Sally has worked with congressional papers since 2023 and has been continuously learning about the joys, frustrations, and complexities of working with these materials. If elected to the steering committee, she would seek to learn from and collaborate with other professionals in the field, to help steward the creation of meaningful training and resources for practicing congressional archivists, and to find ways to explain and promote these collections to other archivists and information professionals beyond the congressional sphere.