2021 Election: Candidate Statements

Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2021 Lone Arrangers Section election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.

You will be voting for:

• One Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (two-year term); and
• Two Steering Committee members (two-year terms) in the following roles: one Regional Representative Lead and one Newsletter Editor

Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot opens! 

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect Candidates

The following candidates are running for the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect position:

Micaela Terronez

Special Collections Librarian, Augustana College

Starting August 2021, I will be the Special Collections Librarian at Augustana College (Rock Island, IL) managing rare books, college archives, and manuscript collections. I hold a bachelor’s degree in History and Anthropology from Augustana College and a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from The University of Iowa. Before my time at Augustana, I held special collections and archives-related positions at Knox College’s Seymour Library (2019-2021) and The University of Iowa Special Collections and University Archives (2017-2019). I have previously served on national and local boards/committees including the Carl Sandburg Historic Site Association, National IMAGE, INC., and the Midwest Archives Conference (Local Arrangements).

I offer nearly four years of experience working within college and university archives, where I have honed skills in reference, outreach, instruction, and collection management. The Lone Arrangers Section and its members have greatly assisted me the past two years with educational resources and guidance, especially as an early-career professional still developing within archival work. I look forward to increasing my involvement and leadership in this Section because I know first-hand how important these resources are to Local Arrangers and other professionals.

If elected as Vice/Chair, I will support Section members by providing direct and consistent leadership, while also seeking guidance and suggestions from members. I will also foster a collaborative environment with the LAS leadership team to create helpful strategies and conversations for the Section. I also believe that this position will grant me the opportunity to advance my leadership skills in a long-term position within an archives-related organization. I am self-assured that my education and professional background in small, liberal arts academic libraries will be a useful perspective for the Lone Arrangers Section. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

Steering Committee Member Candidates

Regional Representative Lead

The following candidates are running for the section steering committee Regional Representative Lead:

Julie Yamashita, CA, DAS

Archivist, Lanterman House

I am the Archivist at the Lanterman House Museum in La Cañada Flintridge, California. As a lone arranger, my duties include creating digital and on-site exhibitions, managing collection digitization, teaching an online internship for local high school students, as well as writing for publications. In addition, I work to build connections with our community using a wide array of affordable high-tech and low-tech methods to make local history more inclusive. I have an MLIS in Archival Studies, an MA in Art History/Museum Studies, as well as being a Digital Archives Specialist and Certified Archivist.

I am currently an Executive Committee Member of L.A. as Subject, a group of institutions whose mission is to preserve and provide access, through an online directory, to archival materials of Los Angeles history. I also serve on L.A. as Subject’s Archives at Risk Committee, which provides assessment and support resources for member archives, many of whom have lone arrangers. I welcome the opportunity to assist the even broader community of SAA’s Lone Arrangers Section as a Regional Representative Lead.

Sarah Aisenbrey, CA

Archivist, Sisters of the Precious Blood

I am the Archivist for the Sisters of the Precious Blood in Dayton, Ohio. I earned my masters in Public History from Wright State University in 2014 and started my career at the Dayton Society of Natural History as the CLIR Registrar. I was the Archivist for the Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio, before coming to the Sisters of the Precious Blood in 2018. I became a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists in 2020.

As Regional Representative Lead, I would use the diverse connections I have developed over the past decade to facilitate gathering helpful information for members of the Lone Arrangers Section, as well as generating new relationships with current and future LAS members. If elected, I would look forward to being part of this new chapter for the LAS leadership. Thank you for your consideration.

Newsletter Editor

The following candidates are running for the section steering committee Newsletter Editor:

Renae Rapp

Scholarly Communications Librarian and Archivist, SUNY Maritime College

I started my position in April 2020 at the very beginning of the pandemic. One of the most difficult challenges of starting a new position remotely was the feeling of loneliness. Not only as a Lone Arranger but also separated from my colleagues. The entire world was experiencing this feeling, and like many people, I expressed and worked through it by writing. As creator and editor of The Tipsy Librarian (https://thetipsylibrarian.com/), I connected with fellow new professionals and created a space for them to express their experiences. My involvement with SAA's Student and New Professional section (SNAP) led me to a collaborative project with other new hires to present our stories of starting a new position during a pandemic to SNAP members and SAA members. As the SOLO Newsletter Editor, I hope to continue connecting Lone Arrangers through shared experiences including the transition back to normal, celebrating accomplishments, and opinions on the field.

Katy Sternberger, CA, DAS

Research Librarian, Portsmouth Athenaeum

With a passion for words and eight years of experience as a professional editor, I would be pleased to serve on the steering committee as the editor of SOLO, the Lone Arrangers Section newsletter. I currently work as a research librarian at the Portsmouth Athenaeum, incorporated in 1817 and one of fewer than twenty membership libraries remaining in the United States. I manage reference inquiries and catalog library and archival resources. I earned my master’s degree in archives management from Simmons College and my bachelor’s degree in English/journalism from the University of New Hampshire. In 2020, I became a Certified Archivist and completed the Digital Archives Specialist certificate from SAA.

I have an extensive background in writing and editing. In my current and prior jobs as a solo archivist, I designed and produced both print and digital marketing materials. Since 2016, I have served on SAA’s Dictionary Working Group, which maintains the online Dictionary of Archives Terminology. In addition, I have served on editorial boards for the New England Archivists Newsletter and the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies. I am excited about the possibilities awaiting the Lone Arrangers Section and its members, and I will bring my eye for detail to SOLO.