Spotlight Award: Libby Hopfauf

Libby Hopfauf, audiovisual and digital archivist at Seattle Municipal Archives and executive director of Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound, is the 2026 recipient of the Spotlight Award from the Society of American Archivists (SAA). Established in 2005, the award recognizes the contributions of individuals who work for the good of the archives profession and of archival collections, and whose work would not typically receive public recognition.

Hopfauf is a collaborative partner in DVRescue, a migration and digital preservation project, funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, that addresses digital video (DV) format obsolescence through development of open-source software tools, research and testing, extensive documentation, and training. She has presented DVRescue findings at major conferences including the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) Annual Symposium in 2021 and the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives in Istanbul in 2023, plus she led workshops at the Smithsonian Institution Archives in 2021. Additionally, Hopfauf plans, designs, and edits Seattle Municipal Archive’s Favorite Archival Object ongoing video series and has designed virtual exhibits translating archival audiovisual content for public audiences—special projects that bridge technical preservation work with public engagement.

In addition, Hopfauf has promptly responded to the magnetic media preservation crisis by co-founding the Magnetic Media Crisis Committee, a new initiative mobilizing the profession around magnetic media obsolescence. She is also a member of AMIA’s Open-Source Committee since 2016, advocating for accessible preservation tools, and a core member and co-founder of the Northwest Archivists’ Audio and Moving Image Roundtable, to name a few of her service commitments. She has also served as an Advisory Board member for BAVC Media’s Mapping the Magnetic Media Landscape project and a member of three Seattle Heritage Emergency Response Network committees.

Hopfauf’s contributions to essential technical documentation, such as the QCTools manual, MIPoPS training manuals, DVRescue documentation, and her April 2025 Descriptive Notes article, “Videotape Identification for Audiovisual Description and Preservation,” have become the industry standard in audiovisual preservation practice.

Furthermore, Hopfauf has been a volunteer instructor and guest lecturer at the University of Washington Information School; Seattle University; University of California, Los Angeles; New York University’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program; and the King County Library System.

All of this innovative and foundational work demonstrates a strategic emergency response and commitment to audiovisual preservation at the professional level. As colleagues have noted, “Libby represents the archival professional who does the essential work that makes everyone else’s work possible—with generosity, technical excellence, and unwavering commitment to collective success,” and her “approach is characterized by generosity—she shares tools, knowledge, and resources freely, mentors emerging professionals, and builds collaborative networks that strengthen the entire profession.”

Established in 2005, past recipients of the Spotlight Award include Vanessa St.Oegger-Menn (Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center), Heidi Steed (State of Utah Division of Archives and Records Service), and Georgina Tom.