Choose Your Own Adventure: Call for SAA Leader Self-Nominations

A popular series of children’s books once beckoned youngsters to create their own narratives by selecting from different plotlines. The book allowed readers to construct a different tale each time they started reading, and so the books were called “choose your own adventure” stories. As kids read, they chose from a carefully placed series of options that led them to one part of the book or another. Their newly concocted story might go on for hours or conclude in a matter of minutes; both outcomes were designed to engage and enrich readers while also encouraging them to revisit the opening storyline and chart new courses based on the information they had just received. Each fresh read engendered new perspectives and new outcomes; none of the readers’ journeys were ever quite the same.  

So it is when volunteering with an organization. We often spend a bit of time getting to know the organization’s story and then more time identifying the best pathways we can take to navigate—and, potentially, change—its course. Each time we volunteer, we approach our journey with new knowledge and determination, taking what we learned previously into novel directions and striving for different outcomes.  

It is with this spirit and mindset that we ask you to choose your own adventure with the Society of American Archivists.  

This year, opportunities to volunteer for appointed groups—which include committees, subcommittees, boards, working groups, and awards—abound. Each opportunity presents the chance to get to know SAA and work toward changing its trajectory.  

Where do you want SAA to be in the next 1–5 years? What should your organization look like? How will your participation effect a positive change?  

Choose your adventure by self-nominating for the appointed groups to help both you and SAA along your respective journeys in the archives field.

How to Volunteer

To Volunteer

To volunteer, log in and submit the self-nomination form by December 15, 2023. You may save changes and come back to this form; you may also change or resubmit information. SAA membership is required both to view the self-nomination form and to be appointed to an SAA group. Join or renew your SAA membership, here!

The application requires specific and detailed information that will be shared with both the Appointments Committee and current appointed group chairs so they can make sound recommendations. This process can be competitive, so please send your strongest highlights that relate to the position for which you’re applying. 

Questions? Contact appointments@archivists.org.