Back in Arizona

Oakland was fantastic! I got back Sunday night with a pocket full of new contacts and new perspectives on how to reach users.

The breakfasts that I attended were probably the most successful, as it gave me the opportunity to really talk to members and ask them about what their focuses or if they knew anyone who might be interested in our collections. If they did, to please send them my way.

The second most successful event was the round table entitled “Do Historians Matter? Perspectives on Arizona in 2010”. It brought up a lot of valid points about SB 1070 and HB 2281 and the state of Arizona and Arizonans participation, or lack there of, in history and civic duty. It motivates me even more to not just reach out to the usual users—researchers, graduate students, etc—but also to the local community to know that there is rich and deeply historically valuable material here to use and for free.