Mission
ASU Library’s Community-Driven Archives (CDA) Initiative is reimagining and transforming 21st century academic libraries and archives by developing and implementing innovative solutions that address inequities, erasure, and trauma. Our award winning initiative advances ASU’s research and public service mission by creating a collaborative culture that models reparative justice, diversity, inclusion and broadens access to and preservation of knowledge.
Vision and Values
Empathy and Reparative Action
We seek to…
- Build relationships with historically marginalized communities in Arizona by cultivating trust and mutual respect.
- Acknowledge the legacy of White supremacy in Arizona and historical trauma by dismantling traditional power structures that exclude.
- Break cycles of erasure through the collaborative development of CDA collections, programs and services.
- Ensure community members are truly able to engage at all levels of the preservation process and share stewardship responsibilities.
Collective Memory and Knowledge
We aim to…
- Work with communities to redefine the traditional definition and function of an archive.
- Center the lived experiences and knowledge of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) memory keepers.
- Create intergenerational and intersectional safe spaces that support lifelong learning and reimagine archives as spaces of inclusion.
- Support community-driven projects that use archival material, storytelling and memory keeping as healing tools.
Equitable Access
Our initiative…
- Provides free access to archival training, archive starter kits, technology and other educational resources that empower our patrons.
- Supports community archivists as they establish their own archives outside of the university for future generations.
- Facilitates the donation of archival material to ASU Library’s Black Collections, Chicano/a Research Collection, Greater Arizona Collection and University Archives.
- Provides access to our collections in our reading room and digital repository.
- Improves metadata to enable culturally relevant searching and access to archival collections and library resources.
More than research and preservation, CDA is helping historically marginalized communities process and remember by centering their knowledge. Seeing yourself in history, probably for the first time, and then reflecting on it leads to personal and collective healing. We humanize ourselves and others when we take action, work with archives, and share our stories.
Nancy Liliana GodoyDirector and Associate Archivist
News and blog
More news
ASU Library welcomes first cohort of ‘memory keepers’ to a new fellowship
This fall the ASU Library welcomes seven students to the Community Archivist Fellowship Program, which seeks to inspire community and tribal college students to become professionally trained archivists or librarians. “This program is extremely crucial because Black, Indigenous, and People of Color ...
Community college students invited to apply for Community Archivist Fellowship
Become a memory keeper for your community! The Community Archivist Fellowship Program at the ASU Library seeks to inspire community college students to become professionally trained archivists or librarians. Students will be introduced to community-driven archives and work closely with archivists an...
ASU student-produced podcast focuses on community history, memory, healing
Looking for a new podcast to listen to this summer? The Community-Driven Archives Initiative at the ASU Library recently launched a new podcast series titled "Archives Glow" about community history, memory and healing. Episodes highlight the importance of BIPOC experiences and storytelling, center t...
Japanese American family’s history now part of ASU Library archives
A new archival collection donated by a Japanese American family is now part of the ASU Library. The Ohnick Family Papers document the lives and experiences of a Japanese American family living across the American West in the 19th and 20th centuries. Beginning in 1848, the collection includes corres...