2018 SAA LACCHA Elections

Bio: Amanda Moreno is a graduate of the MA/MSLIS dual-degree program in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Library and Information Science from New York University and Long Island University. During her graduate study, she was awarded an NYU MacCracken Fellowship, ALA Spectrum scholarship and a fellowship from ARL’s Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce; she also participated in the Smithsonian’s Latino Museum Studies Program.

As the Archivist for the Cuban Heritage Collection (CHC), Amanda manages and processes historical collections related to Cuba and its diaspora, while also providing reference and instruction assistance. She has previously worked as an Archives Assistant at CHC and a Collection Development Assistant for Latin American materials at NYU's Bobst Library.

Statement of interest: As a young archives professional working in a Latinx cultural heritage institution, I am committed to diversifying the historical record of the Cuban and Cuban diaspora experience by documenting under-represented segments of our culture. I began working with LACCHA when I volunteered to help translate SAA’s informational brochures from English to Spanish in late 2016 and early 2017, an effort coordinated by Ana Rodríguez, LACCHA’s Senior Co-Chair. Having served as a member of LACCHA’s Steering Committee since October 2017, I would relish the opportunity to continue my work with the section as LACCHA Junior Co-Chair. If selected, I would contribute new ideas for the section’s existing programming initiatives, including the Desmantelando Fronteras/Breaking Down Borders webinar series, and help the Senior Co-Chair expand the section’s membership, widening our audience within SAA and demonstrating to new constituencies the value of Latin American/Latinx archival work. I hope to work collaboratively to build new spaces for community engagement within LACCHA, developing workflows for outreach initiatives that section members can take back to their communities to show different groups that their history matters and can be preserved in local repositories. If selected, I would work closely with the Online Communication Liaison to develop series for the section’s blog, Memoria, and brainstorm content for LACCHA’s social media outlets. I also hope to make connections with our colleagues in Latin America and the Caribbean to facilitate the flow of knowledge and professional best practices between the global South and North.

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