Mario H. Ramirez is the Associate Dean and Chief Librarian at The City College of New York. Below you will find his responses to SAA SNAP’s questionnaire for the candidate for the general SAA Vice-President/President-Elect. We thank Mario for his time and effort in answering these questions. You can find his general election page here.
1. Could you tell us how you came to archives as a profession and what were some resources/organizations that helped you as a student/new Professional?
I always remind everyone that my entry into archival work was purely serendipitous, and is owed wholly to the kind suggestion of a former housemate who saw that I was a struggling after I took a leave of absence from a PhD program in the late 1990s, and suggested that I volunteer at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CUNY). Most of my academic work previous to this had focused on poststructuralist theory, psychoanalysis, political science, postcolonial studies, and visual culture, and had little to no connection to history as a field of study or archives themselves. Despite always having a deep interest in biography and the proverbial origin story, as well as the fundamentality of questions of identity to my theoretical interests, I never quite made the connection with primary sources.
That said, the profound influence of the mentoring I received at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, and specifically from the Senior Archivist and Library Director, cannot be understated, and was instrumental to my decision to become an archivist. Indeed, their commitment to documenting the Puerto Rican community in New York, their dedication to community archives, and their keen interest in forming a new generation of Latinx archivists, spoke to my own commitments to social justice and activism, the empowerment of Latinx communities, and broader questions of power and coloniality that had engaged me in my previous work. At the time, SAA and the archival profession were predominantly white institutions whose interest in community archives, particularly those of BIPOC communities, was relatively minimal. It is because of this, that the mentoring and support I received at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, from other Latinx library and archives professionals, was critical to my formation and integral to the path I continue to follow in relationship to archives, advocacy, and mentoring.
2. What do you see as the role for SNAP members in SAA and its programs, and how can it grow?
It strikes me that the newer generations of archivists I have encountered through my teaching, mentoring, or in the workplace, have a greater understanding of the subjective and intersectional nature of archival work, and are more poised to question institutional norms and their purveyors. As much as an organization like SAA requires a modicum of financial and administrative stability to function and serve its membership, this does not mean that it cannot benefit from a healthy dose of critique, and a change in its policies and practices, that are often engendered by newer thinkers and practitioners who resist the status quo. With that in mind, SNAP members need to be made an even more integral part of decision making and policy revisions at SAA, and to be provided with increased leadership opportunities that put them in a position to push SAA in necessary directions. Valuable as agitating from both outside of and within the bounds of membership and the organization can be, it is critical to have voices of dissent with SAA as well. It is these newer waves of archivists that will set the path for the profession and SAA, and what they refigure as “normative” practices and thinking.
3. What is your advice to SNAP members who are about to be or are newly a part of the field?
In addition to remaining resilient in the face of the uncharted territory they might be stepping into, I would strongly advise SNAP members to advocate for themselves, and to work collectively to push for fair compensation and labor practices, more critical approaches to archives praxis, and a greater leadership role in the profession. As a newly minted professional, I was hard pressed to advocate for better working conditions or financial stability, resulting in a level of precarity that shaped the earlier part of my career and which also impacted my personal life. Although there are growing critiques of contract work and unpaid internships in the field, there is still a need to assure the economic stability of new professionals, and to offer opportunities that are more thoroughly contributive to their professional and personal growth.
4. (Question submitted by a SNAP Member): “I am a student who has not previously worked in the field. As I look for jobs, I see many entry level positions that list a requirement of 3-5 years of experience. What do you think SAA can do as a professional organization to help people new to the field gain experience and have opportunities to work in archives?”
I would first say that for an institution or repository to expect 3-5 years of experience for an entry level position is unrealistic and wholly unfair. In turn, I believe that SAA can impact and temper institutional expectations regarding experience, etc., and also work with its membership to connect new professionals with our network of institutions and repositories to provide paid internships and other initial practical experience. Often, students are only given recourse to a semester’s long internship while finishing their degrees to gain valuable hands-on work experience, but how does SAA work in concert with libraries and iSchools to increase those opportunities throughout the degree gaining process? How can we invest further in early career mentoring, counseling, and apprenticeships that complements coursework and provides the necessary work experience to transition to a full time position?
5. Within SAA, there are many different groups and audiences that you are working with. Could you please share an example of a time when you were required to lead others by example; and another time where you led others by consensus building.
In my current position, I oversee 9 affiliated and divisional libraries that each have their own director or faculty librarians leading them, in addition to the centrally located Archives and Special Collections division. Since arriving in May 2023, my interest has been in establishing a collective leadership body that can move our network of libraries forward with a vision towards join decision making regarding priorities, budgets, and campus advocacy. In forming a Library Leadership Council, I was moreover invested in foregrounding the leadership of my colleagues, and increasing transparency across the libraries as a means of engendering personal and professional investment in the management of the libraries, the quality of work life for fellow colleagues, and how resources are shared, disbursed, and prioritized. By its nature, this approach to management depends on consensus building and the facilitation of sometimes contentious discussions. Nonetheless, despite it being new to many of my colleagues, this style of management and leadership has proven to increase inclusiveness, transparency, and participation in the governing of the libraries.
What has also been instrumental to the burgeoning success of this collective direction, has been my insistence on cultivating a more empathetic and understanding workplace that has worked actively against a legacy of toxicity and bullying throughout the libraries. I am always conscious of the fact that by virtue of being Associate Dean and Chief Librarian, I can set the tone for the libraries, and this includes building a work environment that is welcoming, inclusive, and accountable. Although not always easy, I have found that this shift has begun to help ease past conflicts, and to increase dialogue across the libraries and among their personnel.
6. What is a goal for you personally and organizationally if you are elected to this position?
If elected to this position, I will be focused not only on increasing the collective direction of SAA, but to exponentially increase the number of BIPOC individuals in key leadership positions. Despite the fact that diversity has increased across the organization and the archival profession, BIPOC representation continues to remain wanting due in part to legacies of exclusion. I hope to do my part in rectifying this oversight throughout the organization.
SNAP Section 