Meet the Candidates for our 2023-2024 Section Leadership!

You will be voting for:

  • One Vice Chair/Chair-elect, for a two-year term
  • Two Steering Committee members, each for a three-year term

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

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (select one)

Name: Deborah Smith

Professional title, institution, or affiliation: Executive Director, Jones Memorial Library

Biographical Information: 

Deborah Smith is Executive Director of the Jones Memorial Library in Lynchburg, Virginia.  Prior to joining the Jones, Deb served as Executive Director of the Essex Library Association in Essex, Connecticut.  Her career includes 20+ years in records management, libraries, and archives. She holds an M.L.I.S. from Kent State University with an emphasis on cultural heritage & genealogy.  She is a frequent presenter and her publications include articles about women’s archives and linguistic minorities.

 

Deb currently co-moderates SAA’s 2023 Special Libraries mentoring cohort, is a governor-elect of the Virginia Genealogical Society, and serves on the American Library Association’s LHRT Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award Committee.  She is a former member of ALA's Commission on the Status of Women in Librarianship, the State of Connecticut’s Digital Inclusion Planning Taskforce, and the Connecticut Library Association's Legislative Taskforce.

Candidate Statement:

I am interested in contributing to SAA as a Steering Committee member with the Women Archivists Section because much of my professional focus has been on women’s representation and equity. My career includes 20+ years with single-sex female institutions; in 2018 I conducted my graduate practicum in women’s archives.  Having served on ALA’s Commission on the Status of Women in Librarianship (COSWL), I am an advocate for the work that this section advances.  With COSWL, I moderated a panel on ageism in the workplace and planned workshops on topics including female librarianship, caregiving, and harassment.

After several years of service in public libraries, in 2022 I pivoted to leading a special library/archive.  This has been an exciting change.  One thing I’ve observed, however, is that there are fewer women in positions of leadership at archives compared with public libraries. There are also fewer pathways to leadership (witness the fact that only recently has the first woman been appointed as National Archivist).  I am impressed by the need to strengthen the networks and resources that empower women to lead at archives and other cultural heritage institutions.  Leading is not necessarily intuitive, but leadership skills can be learned, enhanced, and supported. I am eager to contribute to SAA and to continue to build awareness around issues related to female leadership as well as other gendered issues that impact all archival staff.  I know that the section’s work depends on members who commit to attending and contributing at meetings while lending time and skills to projects that advance the section’s priorities. I would be honored to serve, and thank you for your consideration.

 

Steering Committee (select two)


 

Name: Candace Pine


Professional title, institution, or affiliation: Rare Books and Manuscripts Librarian, Miami University

Biographical Information: 

My initial interest in working in the field of library science stemmed from my lifelong love of books. Later, my particular interest in working in the area of archives and special collections came as the result of working in Western Michigan University’s archive as a student assistant. A few years later, when I decided to go to graduate school, I remembered how much I loved my job working in the archives and I knew that that was the career path I wanted to pursue. So, I earned my Master of Library and Information Science degree, with a concentration in Archives and Special collections, from Kent State University in the spring of 2018. My first job after graduate school was a temporary position of Visiting Manuscript Librarian at the Walter Havighurst Special Collections and University Archives at Miami University, which is located in Oxford, Ohio. I’m grateful to say that that led to a permanent position in the same archive, where I’m now serving as the Rare Books and Manuscripts Librarian. My duties are primarily split between processing our manuscript collections and cataloging the rare books in our collections, with some extra duties of teaching, outreach and engagement work, etc. mixed in too. I enjoy my work very much, and I’m looking forward to continuing to grow in my position, and in this field.

Candidate Statement: 

I became a member of SAA in July 2022. It was important to me to become a member of this national-level professional organization because I knew there was a lot of value I could get from the resources, information, and fellow colleagues that SAA would provide me with access to. I’ve spent some time familiarizing myself with the organization, and now I want to get more deeply involved. When I saw that the Women Archivists Section was seeking nominations for Steering Committee members, I instantly knew this was exactly where I wanted to get involved. I greatly admire the WArS’ goals of advocating for women and seeking to create a positive environment for women in SAA, as well as the archives profession as a whole. That’s the kind of meaningful work that I would like to support and be a part of myself. I want to do what I can to help uplift other women in this field and make sure their unique voices are heard, and their needs are met. Furthermore, I’m excited by the idea of getting to collaborate with other sections of SAA. After all, being a woman is only one part of a person’s identity, and it only seems right that we honor and advocate for all of the complex versions of people that are out there. I’d love to work with other sections that focus on people who belong to other traditionally marginalized groups, such as people of color, people of various abilities/disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community, etc. Working together, I believe we could better advocate for more inclusive representation and participation of all of the multidimensional women in this profession.


My other committee work currently includes serving on my home institution’s DEIA Strategic Planning Committee, and on the Midwest Archives Conference’s (MAC) Archie Motley Memorial Scholarship for Students of Color Committee. As this may suggest, I’ve made an intentional effort to get involved with committee work that has a DEIA focus. I also strive to present on my work with manuscript collections with an eye towards the themes of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. That is something I am passionate about, and I would try to bring that kind of focus to my work with the Women Archivists Section as well.  


I look forward to the opportunity to expand my service and work on behalf of the Women Archivists Section of SAA.

 

 

Name: Morgan Wilson


Professional title, institution, or affiliation: Architecture Library Specialist, University of Notre Dame

 

Biographical Information: 

Morgan Lee Wilson attended George Mason University and Indiana University, South Bend, graduating with a BA in History and a minor in European Studies. While working in the History Department at Notre Dame post-graduation, she began doing research for multiple Notre Dame professors and also did archival work at the Marshall County History Museum. Her love of history took her to Indianapolis where she attended Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. She completed an MA in Public History with a thesis focusing on 18th century farm women in Indiana and is completing an MLIS from Wayne State University. She has interned in Collections and Exhibitions at the Indiana Historical Society before receiving a fellowship from The Society of Indiana Pioneers. She now works as the Architecture Library Specialist at the University of Notre Dame's Hesburgh Library. She spends her free time volunteering for the Walkerton Area Historical Society, where she focuses on creating digital records in the archives.

Candidate Statement: 

My goal in both my personal and professional life has always been to highlight the Woman's lived experience and to change her circumstance for the better. For historical figures, this has been limited to telling the story and challenging typical perspectives of women in the past. The Women Archivists Section will allow me to not simply lecture, but to listen, and to be an advocate for women's concerns that have so long been sidelined such as the need for women in leadership positions and the role of caregiver in the workplace. The work WArS has been doing is vital and I am looking forward to being involved in making the archives field a more positive place.