PROGRAM

MARCH 19

WALKING TOUR OF THE FRENCH QUARTER (2:00 - 5:00 PM)
Limited to 25 attendees with an additional registration fee.
Provided by the Preservation Resource Centre of New Orleans. Leaves from the Intercontinental New Orleans Lobby at 2:30 pm. 

MARCH 20 - INTERCONTINENTAL NEW ORLEANS

REGISTRATION (8:00 - 9:00 AM) - Intercontinental Lobby

OPENING REMARKS (9:00 - 9:10 AM) - Paula Farrar, AASL President

LIGHTNING TALKS - Steering Collections and Spaces (9:10 - 10:00 AM)
Moderator: TBD

Highly Effective Collection Development for Librarians Serving Communities of Architectural Scholarship and Practice
Barret Havens, Woodbury University

Budgets for collection development at many institutions serving architecture schools and design practitioners are more constrained than ever. In light of this, and considering the conference theme of "repair," University Librarian Barret Havens, Woodbury University, will cover highly effective collection development practices for architecture and design librarians. This presentation will be geared around repairing collections that have developed deficiencies due to budget challenges, as well as presenting methods for making sure those deficiencies never develop. This presentation will include AASL members’ feedback regarding their recommendations for core publishers to focus on for collection development, key characteristics of desirable publications, and will touch briefly on the 11 Essential Facets of Architectural Collections, an article authored by the presenter.

PRESENTER
Barret Havens (he/him) began his career working in architecture libraries at The University of Texas at Austin while completing his MLIS program. He now serves as the library liaison to the Woodbury University School of Architecture and also fulfills the role of University Librarian.

Study for Development of Library Resources for Off-site Graduate Programs in Architecture
Ann Baird, University of Florida Art and Architecture Library

The majority of off-site graduate programs are established to serve underserved students in urban areas, falling into two categories, those that are older working in careers outside the design field, and those unable, whether through affordability or family responsibilities, to attend main campus classes. Many are practicing architects interested in enhancing their knowledge. A challenge in the establishment of offsite programs is assuring students have access to necessary library resources. Using as case studies two libraries at the University of Florida, CityLab-Orlando, a program known for its specialization in Themed Environments, and CityLab-Jacksonville, a new program, I will compare the development at each library. Referred to as Affiliated Libraries,  associated with the larger library system on UF’s main campus, they act independently. Highlighted will be the library in Orlando, and what was learned from its establishment that can be applied to Jacksonville. I’ll look at acquisitions of e-resources,  the importance of accepting donated collections for the development of a physical collection of architectural resources, the creation of LibGuides solely for CityLabs, the tailoring of Zoom and onsite instruction in library resources and the successful establishment of a program for on-demand consultations.

PRESENTER
Ann Baird (she/her) has a BA degree in Art and  MA in Art History specializing in African Art. She is ABD for a PhD in Historic Preservation, with research interest in World Heritage and architecture in the Caribbean. She has served as Architecture Librarian at UF AFA's library for 5 years.

From Foundation to Future: Hejduk's Renovation and 21st Century Innovations at The Cooper Union
Mackenzie Williams, Cooper Union Library and Steven Hillyer, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Archive, The Cooper Union

This presentation approaches the theme of “Repair’ as an ongoing process occurring structurally and spiritually. In the 1970s, Dean and architect John Hejduk (AR’50) renovated the interior of Cooper Union’s Foundation Building, conceiving the building as a pedagogical tool concretized till this day. Since Hejduk’s renovation, The Cooper Union has responded to evolving curricular needs and growing importance of archival collections by establishing an Art, Architecture, Construction, and Engineering Lab, and The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Archive’s Student Work Collection. The Cooper Union Library has welcomed the Center of Writing and Learning, opened the stacks to provide community and exhibition spaces, and curated academic collections and special collections. In this presentation, Mackenzie Williams, Art & Architecture Librarian, and Steven Hillyer (AR’90), Director of The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Archive, will survey from the1970s Cooper Union Renovation Project to the development of services, labs, and research collections in 21st century.

PRESENTERS
Mackenzie Williams (she/her) is an artist and librarian in New York City. She is the Art & Architecture Librarian at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Arts. She practices community-based librarianship by modeling inclusive and creative approaches to information needs. She creates opportunities for students to learn to handle, closely observe, and incorporate special collections into their research and practices.

Steven Hillyer (he/him) is a 1990 graduate of The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union. In keeping with a longstanding tradition of mounting exhibitions and publishing work that informs the pedagogy of the school, Hillyer has curated, designed, and installed over 40 exhibitions at The Cooper Union and abroad.

Revitalizing a Branch Library - A Space In-between
Jenna Rinalducci, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Being the lone branch library on campus presents both challenges and opportunities. Our architecture library is a small space on the second floor of the School of Architecture building. As a result, we sometimes have to remind the main library and the school of our needs. However, it also affords us opportunities to take more chances. Through increased advocacy, we have achieved several goals. We are now included in more library documentation, including strategic planning. In addition, the university’s Office of Communications now lists us as an alternative study space due to the temporary closing of spaces in the main library. In addition, we are in the process of renovating our space based on student feedback. Since we do not have a separate budget, we have accomplished this through one-time funding and the re-use of existing resources. These renovations include setting up a reading nook, installing bar counters to take advantage of the high windows, and hanging reproduced artwork from Special Collections. The upkeep of equipment purchased through one-time funds continues to present obstacles when the equipment is damaged, lost, or outdated. However, our new circulation supervisor and part-time assistant are making inroads in defining the units’ responsibilities. We hope continued communication will improve equipment maintenance. One clear advantage to our situation is that we have greater freedom in planning events and other programming. We have had successful events, such as collaborative coloring during final reviews, in-person exhibits, Low-fi Music Mondays, and Bad Art Days.

PRESENTER
Jenna Rinalducci (she/her) is the Arts & Architecture Librarian at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She hold an MA in art history from Florida State University, an MLIS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a graduate certificate in Digital Public Humanities from George Mason University.

AASL CORE PERIODICALS LIST DISCUSSION & COFFEE BREAK (10:00 - 11:00 AM)
Join colleagues for coffee and a discussion of the AASL Core Periodicals List.

PRESENTATIONS - Collaborative Instruction (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
Moderator: TBD

Repair After Shock and Awe: Critical Pedagogy and Zine Libraries as Tools to Rebuild and Maintain Communities
Holly Wilson, Pratt Institute and Romel Espinel, Pratt Institute

Our session will examine the impact of neoliberal educational policies on academic libraries. These policies, as articulated by Naomi Klein through the concept of the “shock doctrine”, have led to the privatization and digitization of library resources and services, prioritizing profit over community and knowledge. This presentation will investigate how these changes affected student learning and agency. At Pratt Libraries, we aim to counteract this crisis through a critical pedagogy praxis and the development and maintenance of a zine collection. The latter aims to empower students to reclaim their narratives, encouraging them to engage in community-based publishing that challenges dominant narratives. By fostering zine-making as a form of repair, we invite participants to reflect on the values embedded in our information systems and explore new paradigms for fostering resistance and agency in the face of austerity in higher education.
.

PRESENTERS

Associate Professor Holly Wilson (she/they) is Liaison Librarian, Design & Architecture at Pratt Institute. While she has been at Pratt since 2006, design and architecture are new liaison areas as of the 2024-25 academic year. Holly has been the principal curator and manager of the Pratt Libraries Zine Collection for over 10 years.

Romel Espinel (he/him/él) is a Critical and Inclusive Pedagogy Librarian and Associate Professor at Pratt Institute Library, where he is the liaison to the Graduate School of Architecture. His research interests and areas of study are critical pedagogy, social justice, and literature, all with a special focus on working class communities of color in the U.S. and Latin America.

How to Read a Book: Indigenous Information Literacy in Architecture, Design, and Planning
Ashley Huot, University of Manitoba

This presentation will focus on sharing a path to supporting responsible engagement with knowledge in Indigenous books through Indigenous information literacy initiatives in the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Architecture; involving an ongoing collaborative project between an Elder, faculty, student, and librarian. Following the University of Manitoba Libraries' development of a Reconciliation Action Plan, the Liaison Librarian for the Faculty of Architecture worked collaboratively with the faculty’s Elder in Residence and an Indigenous student and faculty member to develop a reflective statement to guide readers of Indigenous books, complemented by projects such as book lists and displays. Repair involves supporting researchers and designers in responsibly engaging with Indigenous communities, history, Knowledge, and content. In part, there is a need to support the recognition that there are nuances of individual Nations and communities, and awareness of Pan-Indigeneity. There is also a need to contextualize that books are supportive resources or tools in learning, but that in the context of architecture, design, and planning, which can involve working with or researching about Indigenous communities, connection, ceremony, and relationship with the communities is an essential priority.

PRESENTER
Ashley Huot (she/her) is a librarian and interdisciplinary artist based in Winnipeg, MB, Wînipêk / ᐄᐧᓂᐯᐠ, Treaty 1 Territory. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art & Design (2011) and her Masters of Library and Information Studies (2021) from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB, Amiskwaciwâskahikan / ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ, Treaty 6 Territory. Ashley has a background in community arts coordination and experience with artist-run-centers, museums, and collections. She is currently a Liaison Librarian at the University of Manitoba’s Architecture/Fine Arts Library, where she serves the Faculty of Architecture (Environmental Design, Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, City Planning). She further supports the LIS community as Chair of Manitoba’s Prison Libraries Committee, a founding Co-Editor of ARLIS/NA’s Library Exhibitions Review, and as Canadian Co-Liaison of ArLiSNAP. She was formally an Associate Editor and Editor-In-Chief of Pathfinder: A Canadian Journal for Information Science Students and Early Career Professionals and a Director-at-Large with the U of A Library and Information Studies Alumni Association. Ashley has published and presented library research and shown her artwork in Canada and internationally.

Collaborating to Create: Red Oak Reuse

Ann Holderfield, Clemson University and Joel Brown, Clemson University

University expansion and campus-wide new building programs often result in destructive changes to the physical landscape of the university. A new architecture library director shares how a collaboration with the school of architecture manager of the craft + computation labs resulted in a design build project where undergraduate architecture students were required to use wood sourced from red oak trees that were cut down on campus to clear space for new buildings. The students’ final design highlighted the organic and tactile quality of the wood, thereby bringing the nature experience into the library through material and form. This presentation will highlight the nature and process of the collaboration, sharing how the librarian became embedded in the course through the role of client and librarian in this summer class, as well as highlighting the value of the library serving as an experiential learning space and how this experience connected with the larger, overall space planning goals within the library.

PRESENTERS
Ann Holderfield (she/her/hers) is currently the Art & Architecture Librarian and Director of the Gunnin Architecture Library at Clemson University. Prior to working at Clemson, she served as Assistant Director of Libraries, Interim Director of Libraries, and Art/Research and Instruction Librarian at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. Ann has an MLIS from the University of South Carolina, a MA Ed in art education from the University of Georgia, and undergraduate degrees in studio art and art history.  Her research interests broadly include space planning in the academic library, teaching, feminist pedagogy, the creative research process, leadership, art/architecture libraries, and art/library curation and exhibits.

Joel Brown (he/him) serves as the Manager of the Craft + Computation Labs within the School of Architecture at Clemson University, which includes the Materials Lab, the Digital Design Shop, the Laser Room and a Materials Marketplace.  Joel is also a Lecturer within the School of Architecture and teaches architecture studio courses. He earned his Master of Architecture degree from the University of Colorado Denver. He has worked professionally designing and fabricating architectural elements both exterior and interior, as well as furniture for both commercial and residential clients. He worked as a designer and fabricator for LVTD design in Denver, Colorado, as well as for Chapman Design Group in Anderson, SC.

FIRST TIME ATTENDEE INTRODUCTIONS (12:00 - 12:15 PM)

DINE AROUNDS or LUNCH ON YOUR OWN (12:15 - 2:00 PM)

PANEL (2:00 - 3:00 PM)
Moderator: TBD

Transformative Projects: Evidence of University-Community Partnerships from the Rudy Bruner Award Collection
Carl Siegel, University of Buffalo, Dan Pitera, University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture + Community Development, Camden Miller, University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, and Robert G. Shibley, Director of the Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence, University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning

The Rudy Bruner Award collection at the University at Buffalo highlights innovative projects and places that make up a vital part of America’s urban fabric. Building off the 30-year history of the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, the collection documents the complex processes of urban development and serves as a resource for ongoing study in community-engaged placemaking practices. This panel will discuss how university-community partnerships in particular can play a transformative role in community development and placemaking, highlighting the history and ongoing work of the St. Joseph’s Rebuild Center in New Orleans (2009 RBA Silver Medal). The Rebuild Center began as a collaborative effort between local charities and designers from the University of Detroit Mercy’s Detroit Design Collaborative to provide temporary shelter and social services in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and still operates as a day shelter providing compassionate and dignified care to New Orleans’ unhoused population.

PRESENTERS
Carl Siegel (he/him) is the Project Archivist for the University at Buffalo Libraries’ Rudy Bruner Award collection. He is responsible for collection management and development, working collaboratively with the Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence in support of its research and outreach initiatives. Outside of his work with the Rudy Bruner Center, Carl is interested in the intersections of digital preservation and design practice, and especially the challenges and opportunities faced by archivists managing increasingly complex bodies of born-digital design records.

Dan Pitera (he/him), FAIA, is a political and social activist masquerading as an architect. Before his appointment as dean of the Detroit Mercy School of Architecture & Community Development in August 2019, he was the executive director for 20 years at the Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC). Under his direction, the DCDC received the AIA’s 2017 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award and was included in the 2017 Curry Stone Design Award’s Social Design Circle. Pitera co-led the civic engagement process for the Detroit Works Project Long Term Planning in 2010. DCDC was awarded the 2011 SEED Award and the 2009 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence for the St. Joseph Rebuild Center in New Orleans.The Design Center has also been the recipient of the NCARB Prize in 2002 and 2009. Pitera is regularly a resource member for the Mayors’ Institute for City Design (MICD) and the National League of Cities (NLC).

Camden Miller (she/her) is a professor in Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo, with a focus on housing, community development, and neighborhood planning. She is working on projects involving the investigation of housing market dynamics (its limitations and exclusion of under-represented groups including people of color and low-income) and how we can work towards providing high-quality affordable housing for everyone within the housing market. Dr. Miller is also the Director of Operations and Project Management for the Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence. The Rudy Bruner Center is focused on innovative thinking and conversation about the role of design in the complex process of city making.

Robert Shibley, FAIA, FAICP is Dean Emeritus of the University at Buffalo's School of Architecture and Planning and the Director of the Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence. During his term as Dean from 2011 and 2023, Shibley guided the school to a top position in research generation among the nation’s schools of architecture and planning. As a teacher, scholar, and practitioner of architecture and planning for more than 50 years, Shibley has dedicated his career to advancing knowledge-based design and placemaking in service to the public. He is co-creator of the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, created in 1986 to honor great places. Over the course of over four decades, Shibley has worked with faculty, staff, students, and collaborating publics on over 80 Buffalo-based projects. His work is viewed as a model for university-community partnerships in city-making and place-based teaching, research, and critical practice.

TOUR (3:00 - 5:00 PM)
Tour of the Rebuild Center 2009 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence at 1803 Gravier St. Tour with Paisleigh Kelley; leaves from the Intercontinental New Orleans Lobby with walking or public transit options.

Paisleigh Kelley (she/her) is the Communications Director for the Harry Tompson Center. Paisleigh is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and holds a Master’s degree in Communication. She’s always felt compelled to work in a service-oriented role and is thrilled that her background in education and non-profit administration led her to the Harry Tompson Center. Her favorite part about working at the HTC is interacting with the guests and articulating their stories to our supporters.

BREAK (5:00 - 5:30 PM)

SPONSORSHIP HAPPY HOUR (5:30 - 6:30 PM)
Location TBA.

MARCH 21 - TULANE UNIVERSITY

TRAVEL TO TULANE UNIVERSITY, HOWARD-TILTON MEMORIAL LIBRARY (8:00 - 9:00 AM)
Attendees will receive a Public Transit Pass to use Streetcars or Buses.

INTRODUCTION TO TULANE (9:00 - 9:15 AM) - Room 430, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library

PRESENTATIONS - Inclusive Collections (9:15 AM - 10:30 AM)
Moderator: TBD

Women Architects Worldwide: Building a Diverse and Inclusive Canon
Aubree Tillett, University of Minnesota

Women Architects Worldwide is an open-access Pressbook in-progress that acts as a reference tool to uplift the names of women architects from ideally every country and territory around the world. The project began as an effort to repair information gaps in the library’s architecture collection. The Pressbook is organized through the lens of place since architecture is part of the built environment. Every chapter focuses on one country or territory and states the name and information of one woman architect born in that place. The purpose of focusing on one architect per location is to provide equal representation across the globe. Information about each architect includes their full name, place of birth, birth date, death date, education, place of education, notable accomplishments, and a reference list. A section of the Pressbook will also include a bibliography of books available in the BTAA about women architects and gendered architecture. By providing general information about each architect, the Pressbook is a starting point for scholars to complete more in-depth research and expand the current architectural canon to include more women architects from around the world in scholarly publications. Within this presentation, the speaker will discuss their research process, search strategies, and challenges with selecting a platform to disseminate their research.

PRESENTER
Aubree Tillett (she/her) is the Humanities and Design Librarian at the University of Minnesota Libraries where she oversees the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library and liaisons for the College of Design, the department of Classical and Near Eastern Religions and Cultures, and Philosophy. She holds a M.L.I.S from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a M.A. in Art History from the University of Arizona.

Black Built Environment: Expanding the Canon, Expanding the Audience
Carol Choi, New York University

"Black Built Environment: race and architecture in America” is an ALA-grant-funded Research Guide launched in Spring 2023 that demonstrates a range of approaches to learning about the built environment that celebrate the leadership and contributions of Black Americans, and acknowledges the many forces that coalesce to impact Black communities across the United States. The Guide provides resources in all manner of format (books, podcasts, lectures, films, oral histories, indices, grassroots organizations, archives, et.al.) for those new to the field and those seeking to improve upon an existing curriculum. It also proposes entirely new frameworks and unconventional materials to help reimagine the value systems that have historically and systematically oppressed and omitted these histories from the design and policy canons. Informed by my experience in architectural education and nearly 15 years working at various international design firms, the Guide addresses the field holistically and systematically, thinking through the pipeline to the profession in terms of pedagogy and practice, and how the built environment is created and shaped.

PRESENTER
Carol Choi (she/her) holds an MLIS from Pratt Institute with an Advanced Certificate in Digital Humanities and an MSc Built Environment: Architectural History from University College London. She has held positions at the Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Library, and the City College of New York, CUNY. Prior to her life in libraries, she built a nearly 15-year career leading business development, communications, and marketing endeavors for award-winning, international architecture and design firms in the UK, Canada, and USA. Currently, she is the Data Reference and Collections Librarian and liaison to the Wagner School of Public Administration at New York University where her practice and research are grounded in critical approaches to data, technology, and communication that build literacy and equity across the information ecosystem.

Would you Call Me a Diva if I Were a Man?: Repairing the Narrative of Women in Architecture
Stefanie Hilles, Miami University and Sara Mautino, Oklahoma State University

Can you name a world-renowned female architect other than Zaha Hadid? Asking students this question often results in head-scratching and blank stares. Despite their contributions, women face marginalization in the architectural field. How can architecture librarians help address this systemic bias in representation? Two presenters will delve into possible answers to this question by exploring practical and innovative strategies taken at their respective institutions‌ to highlight the contributions of women architects through collection development and engagement initiatives, both inside and outside the classroom. One librarian will discuss their collaboration with a Women and Architecture class. The class used a book display to both solicit student contributions to collection development and teach students about the unique challenges of researching women architects compared to their male counterparts. Students then created posters based on their research, which were later displayed in the library. The collaborating librarian will present their 'Women in Architecture' capsule collection, discussing the project's origins, the curation process, and strategies for community engagement. Increasing the visibility of female architects not only ensures that female-identifying students see themselves represented on library shelves, but it inspires and empowers students of all genders to break the stereotypes still rampant in the architectural profession.

PRESENTERS

Stefanie Hilles (she/her) is the Arts and Humanities Librarian at Wertz Art and Architecture Library at Miami University, where she liaisons to the art, architecture and interior design, and theatre departments, manages their collections, and instructs information literacy sessions. She holds an M.A. in Art History from Case Western Reserve University and an M.L.I.S. from Kent State. Stefanie is active in the Art Librarians Society of North America (ARLIS/NA). Stefanie has presented at the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), the Art Libraries Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland (ARLIS/UK & Ireland), The Association of Architecture Librarians (AASL), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the Library Instruction and Information Literacy Conference (LOEX), the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS), among others, and has been published in Art Libraries Journal, Art Documentation, and Public Services Quarterly.

Sara Mautino (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She has been the architecture librarian for Oklahoma State University Libraries since 2021, managing the Cunningham Architecture Library for the OSU School of Architecture. Sara has been a librarian since 2015 when she graduated with her MSLIS from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. Sara spent many years as a K-12 librarian before transitioning to academia. She previously presented at AASL, as well as conferences for Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), Architecture Librarian's Group of the UK (ArcLib), the Metadata Justice Symposium, and others. In addition to the day-to-day tasks required to operate a university branch library and her responsibilities as a faculty member, Sara focuses her architecture librarianship energies on engaging students from commonly overlooked communities and building a diverse collection that reflects the students, faculty, and staff served by the Cunningham Architecture Library.

New Voices | New Contexts: Expanding Representation in the Architecture Archives
Lynn Kawaratani, Carnegie Mellon University Libraries

Architecture Archives traditionally collect design drawings and related documentation leading up to the completion stage of a project. This method of collecting privileges the architect as central to the history of the building and reinforces the idea that buildings are immutable. This type of collection policy has neglected a critical role in architectural history—the inhabitants who not only live and thrive in these places, but also change and reimagine it over time. Compounding the omission of occupants’ voices is the reliance on primarily paper-based sources in the archives. As Stein and Rowden explain, “When we focus only on what paper-based sources have to offer…the histories that emerge belie the fact that architecture, over time, rarely operates in the way designers originally intended (Gosseye, Stead and van der Polaat, ed., 2019).” The Carnegie Mellon University Architecture Archives is embarking on a pilot program to introduce oral history interviews of these inhabitants who have used these buildings for decades, sometimes generations and record the deep imprint they made on the building’s spatial culture. This proposal will share the challenges and experiences we encountered in the process and how the lessons learned might be applied to similar types of archives..

PRESENTER
Lynn Kawaratani (she/her) has served as the Arts + Humanities Librarian at Carnegie Mellon University. In this role, she liaises with the School of Architecture and manages the Architecture Archives. Recently she has become actively involved in both AASL and ARLIS/NA with a particular focus on conference planning. She is currently exploring the expansion of library collections into new media such as building materials and oral histories.

BREAK (10:30 - 10:40 AM)

TOUR (10:40 AM - 12:00 PM) - The Latin American Library

GROUP LUNCH (12:00 - 1:30 PM) - Howard-Tilton Memorial Library

WORKSHOP (1:30 - 2:00 PM)

Moderator: TBD

Meeting Students Where They Are: Cross-Pollination Conversations
Marcella L. McGowan, Texas A&M University Libraries and Christina Flores, Palo Alto College

This presentation focuses on enhancing collaboration among faculty, librarians, and students to address the underutilization of research resources in academia. Utilizing "A Blueprint for Belonging" and the Cultural Wealth Wheel as guiding frameworks, this discussion emphasizes developing a student-centered environment that engages and empowers learners by leveraging technological tools such as the Library’s Homepage, Libguides, and Canvas library links, while promoting cross-disciplinary practices. Through interactive discussions, participants will reframe perceived barriers to maximize usage and discuss actionable strategies that create a more inclusive and resource-rich educational setting.

PRESENTERS
Marcella L. McGowan (she/her) is an experienced Learning & Curricular Services Librarian at Texas A&M University - College Station, where she enjoys delivering library instruction across various subjects. With over 15 years in the library field, her career began as an Instructional Electronic Resources Librarian at Johnson C. Smith University before advancing to an Educational Librarian role. She has also held positions as a Learn Training Officer and Assistant Manager in multiple public library systems, including the San Antonio Public Library and Highland Hills Public Library in Dallas, Texas showcasing her extensive expertise in library management and training.

Dr. Christina Flores (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the English, World Languages & INRW Department at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas. She has served with the Alamo Colleges since 2011 in addition to various academic positions within San Antonio area institutions.
 

PRESENTATIONS - Cultivating Visual Collections (2:00 - 3:00 PM)
Moderator: TBD

The Color Film Emergency Project: Legacy Image Collections and Coaxing Value from the Otherwise Obsolete
Sonja Sekely-Rowland, University of California, Riverside, Jackie Spafford, & Maureen Burns IMAGinED Consulting

This presentation will provide an overview of NEH-funded work on The Society of Architectural Historians’ Color Film Emergency Project. The project emerged from the realization that numerous, valuable 35mm slide collections created and amassed by 20th-century scholars, preservationists, design practitioners and photographers of the built environment are threatened with loss, destruction, and environmental damage. Building upon the SAH’s existing platform for storage and access, SAHARA, the CFEP focuses on ways to preserve and share content that provides temporal documentation of cultural heritage that is changing or vanishing. Project leaders will discuss the development of a consortium to facilitate processing these collections using a ‘right-sized and right-tasked’ assembly-line model. We will address the inherent value of legacy slide collections as tools for re-engineering the role of visual resource centers, the construction of added-value opportunities such as pre-professional training for students, investments in digital collection building, and the development of open-access resources. The project directors will offer critical insight into large-scale multi-collection assessment, as well as practical considerations for working cross-agency where the unique requirements of institutional partners demand customized work-models. An opportunity will be extended for interested AASL members to participate in future collaborations as a part of a growing consortium.

PRESENTERS
Sonja Sekely-Rowland (she/her) is the Visual Resources Curator in the Department of the History of Art, University of California, Riverside. Sonja’s work at UCR focuses on supporting research and pedagogy through the evaluation and expansion of digital assets and analog image collections, development of new programming initiatives, student engagement, community outreach, and copyright research and education. Before joining UCR, Sonja spent five years at Drew University as the VRC curator. Prior to that, she spent over 15 years in advertising production where she was responsible for overseeing the commission, production, and reproduction of commercial art and print advertising for global clients. Her expertise includes worldwide negotiation and licensing of artwork across print and electronic media. Sonja holds a MA in Art History from Brooklyn College where she specialized in early photography. Her current areas of interest include issues surrounding intellectual property and archival theory.

Jackie Spafford (she/her) is a project leader on the NEH-funded Color Film Emergency Project, working on its development since its inception in 2015.  She has been the Co-editor of SAHARA, the Society of Architectural Historians' digital image library for over ten years, shepherding it from its early partnership with ARTstor to its current home on JSTOR. Through the SAHARA initiative, the need for preservation of valuable 35mm slide collections came to light, leading to the establishment of the CFEP. Until 2022 she was the Visual Resources Curator at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Maureen Burns (she/her/hers) is an information professional with 30 years of experience developing and managing teaching resources of analog and digital images at UC Irvine, the Getty Villa, and CSULB. Burns works on a consulting basis through IMAGinED providing managerial, technical, and educational support for the SAH Color Film Emergency Project and CSUDH Archives digitization projects. She is the sales representative for Archivision, contributing images to the research library as an associate, and collaborating with vrcHost on technological developments and community accessibility. With a doctorate in Educational Administration from the UCI/UCLA joint Leadership program, Burns is an editor for the online Journal for Learning through the Arts. She is active in the Visual Resources Association serving on the Financial Advisory committee, while in the past Burns served as VRA president, was a director of the VRA Foundation, editor of the VRA Bulletin, and chair of the VRA's Southern California Chapter. .

A Curator in the Humanities Lab: Reuniting and Recontextualizing Mosaic Floors from Ancient Antioch
Lael Ensor-Bennett, Johns Hopkins University

This presentation highlights the successful integration of “libraries” skills within research courses to help students contextualize and increase access to fragments of the built environment. As curator of the Visual Resources Collection (VRC), I am embedded in the on-going lab course at JHU accompanying the Antioch Research Project (ARP). Launched in 2020 with PI Jennifer Stager, ARP joins together the largest known corpus of mosaic floor fragments from the ancient city of Antioch. Excavated by a Franco-American team of archaeologists in the 1930s, hundreds of fragments were removed from what was then Syria (now Türkiye) and dispersed to museums around the world. ARP’s research focuses on the fragments themselves, the early 20th century excavations, and contemporary museum display narratives. While addressing historiographical and geopolitical questions, PI, students, and VRC progress along several pathways to digitally reunite the fragments. Incorporating librarianship into pedagogy, I work with the investigators as we complete archival research, create an institutional image collection in JSTOR Forum of fragments arranged by ancient site, produce metadata according to a custom schema/vocabulary, navigate image rights, contextualize the fragments with StoryMaps, map the current locations of the fragments with ArcGIS, and reconstruct mosaic floors with imaging.

PRESENTER
Lael Ensor-Bennett (she/her) is the Curator of the Johns Hopkins University Visual Resources Collection in the Department of the History of Art. She has previously held positions at Milton S. Eisenhower Library at JHU, as well as at the Walters Art Museum. She holds an MA from the University of Delaware in Art History with a concentration in Early Medieval and Islamic art. During graduate school she worked at the Center for Historic Architecture & Design in the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration.

Defend Corner Stores: Preserving the Vanishing Culture of Vernacular Hand-Painted Signage in the Commercial Settings of the Post-Katrina Landscape of New Orleans
Anthony DelRosario, Tulane University Libraries and NOLA 'Nacular

Ride along with Anthony DelRosario on a visual journey to document, preserve, and interpret the uniqueness of hand-painted signs on corner stores, neighborhood bars, and other places around New Orleans through the lens of a camera, the ink of printmaking, and the creation of computer typefaces.

PRESENTER
Anthony DelRosario (he/him), a.k.a anthonyturducken, is a cultural documentarian from the South. Sprouted in Memphis and bloomed in New Orleans, he uses photography, printmaking, and digital design to capture and interpret the culture hidden in everyday life.

BREAK (3:00 - 3:10 PM)

TOUR (3:10 - 5:00 PM) - Southeastern Architectural Archive

ACSA KEYNOTE (5:00 - 6:00 PM)

ACSA TULANE RECEPTION (6:00 - 7:30 PM)

MARCH 21 - INTERCONTINENTAL NEW ORLEANS

PANEL (9:00 - 10:00 AM)
Moderator: TBD

PREPARE / REPAIR
Gilda Santana, University of Miami & Rebecca Price, University of Michigan

We propose a moderated panel featuring early, mid, and late career librarians to have a conversation about our practices and approaches to librarianship in the service of architectural pedagogy. The conversation will address the theme of repair, offering a critical review of our services, our practices, and our profession. In order to repair one has to have a solid knowledge of the past (how did we get here -- what's broken and where are the cracks?) and have a clear outlook to the future (where do we want to be?). This requires an ongoing conversation among all generations of librarians; learning from the veterans and being inspired by the current and newer librarians.
 We hope this cross-generational conversation elicits a shared understanding of how we approach and foster repair. How do we prepare to repair? What can we learn from each other? How do we address the impact of our practices on issues such as social justice, diversity, ethics of scholarship, the impact of AI, and how do these issues affect our practices? These questions become prompts to help us find and build tools that ensure we remain resilient and sustainable.

PRESENTERS

Gilda Santana (she/her)

Rebecca Price (she/her) is the Architecture, Urban Planning & Visual Resources librarian at the University of Michigan, a position she has held since 1998. She is especially interested in library instruction, student engagement, and collection development, particularly of special, unique collections. She has been involved in AASL and ARLIS/NA for many years.

BREAK (10:00 - 10:10 AM)

LIGHTNING TALKS - Expanded Literacies (10:10 - 10:40 AM)
Moderator: TBD

Can you Copyright a Bridge?
Sara Schumacher, Texas Tech University

What is ethical is not always legal, and what is legal is not always ethical. Copyright and ethical use of images are knowledge bases often lacking in our society where visuals in all forms inundate us from our devices and meld into our physical spaces. In the first year course Architectural Representation I, I teach a module called “Image and Ethics” which considers students as both visual users and visual creators. Copyright is always the first section of this module as students quickly grasp the necessity of copyright to protect their own creations while also questioning the limitations it places on their use of other creators’ visuals.
For this presentation, I will quiz the audience with copyright questions including those that I ask my first year students. Attendees will have the opportunity to compare their answers to those of my students and see how they score on copyright knowledge and opinions pertaining to architectural works. Copyright laws will be contextualized using court cases to highlight the real-world consequences of copyright infringement. Pending cases and legislation will illuminate future aspects of architectural copyright law that professionals should be tracking.

PRESENTER
Sara Schumacher (she/her) is the Architecture Image Librarian at Texas Tech University, where she works to improve visual media resources and promote visual literacy through discipline specific and professional applications. Her research interests include ethical concerns surrounding using and creating visual media, disciplinary-based visual literacy instruction, and bias within visual collections. She serves as the content editor for the Visual Resources Association Bulletin.

Empowering Content Creators: Equitable Outreach in Architecture Education
Paris Whalon, University of Tennessee - Knoxville

In this presentation, I will discuss how I foster equitable access to research materials and technology in architecture education. As the media literacy librarian with liaison responsibility for the College of Architecture and Design my approach focuses on breaking down barriers to these essential resources through targeted instruction and outreach. I will share insights from workshops that introduce students to primary sources, media creation technologies, and readily available library services. By teaching students about open-access resources, digital tools, and media equipment, we empower them to produce media-rich projects that critically engage with architectural concepts and primary source content across various mediums. Additionally, I will address the challenges of balancing my liaison role with my primary responsibilities, emphasizing the importance of strategic outreach and collaboration. Ensuring students have access to vital research tools and technologies—such as virtual reality, media spaces, and equipment—is essential for fostering equitable access. Ultimately, I aim to demonstrate how libraries play a crucial role in creating opportunities for all students to participate in content creation, research, and design, contributing to a more inclusive and innovative educational environment.

PRESENTER

Paris Whalon (she/her) is the Media Literacy Librarian and Subject Librarian for the College of Architecture and Design (CoAD) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). She ensures the library's resources meet CoAD’s needs and manages their collection. Paris provides instruction on content creation across various mediums, helping students create responsible media using the university’s services, tools and software. She offers consultations and workshops to support media-related projects and research throughout UTK. Additionally, Paris focuses on board game collection development and uses VR and other games to promote community well-being and integrate gamified learning experiences into higher education classrooms. Through her efforts, she fosters an engaging and inclusive educational environment for all students in the College of Architecture and Design..

BREAK (10:40 - 10:50 AM)

PRESENTATIONS - Building, Planning, and Recovery (10:50 - 11:50 AM)
Moderator: TBD

Building an In-House Materials Library: An Accessible and Sustainable Approach for Architecture Programs
Sara Mautino, Oklahoma State University & Amy Hunt, Oklahoma State University

This session presents a cost-effective approach to building an in-house materials library for architecture programs using the open-source software Omeka. Participants will learn how to leverage basic computing and database skills, low-cost barcoding, and student work hours to develop a searchable online platform. Key topics include collaborating with faculty to set cataloging priorities, utilizing CSI numbering protocols to streamline the process, and organizing the materials' space for better access and easier updates. The session also emphasizes sustainability and inclusivity by encouraging the purposeful selection of samples from underrepresented communities and aligning with UN sustainability goals. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for creating a materials library that enhances educational resources while promoting equity and environmental responsibility.

PRESENTERS
Sara Mautino (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She has been the architecture librarian for Oklahoma State University Libraries since 2021, managing the Cunningham Architecture Library for the OSU School of Architecture. Sara has been a librarian since 2015 when she graduated with her MSLIS from Drexel University The bulk of her librarianship experience has been in K-12 schools. Sara has presented at conferences for the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), Metadata Justice Symposium, ArcLib in the UK, and as well as others. Besides the day-to-day tasks required to operate a university branch library and her responsibilities as a faculty member, Sara focuses her architecture librarianship energies on engaging students from commonly overlooked communities and building a diverse collection that reflects the students, faculty, and community served by the Cunningham Architecture Library.

Amy Hunt (she/her) works as a library coordinator for Oklahoma State University. She graduated with her MLIS in 2023 from the University of Missouri and worked at the Guthrie Public Library while in school. In 2022, Amy began working for Oklahoma State University’s library system, coordinating and supervising the circulation desk at the veterinary medicine and architecture branch libraries. In her spare time, she loves to travel with her husband and his bluegrass band, read, cross stitch, and watch 1950s-1970s tv shows and movies.

Repair, Rethink, Reconnect: The Frank Lloyd Wright Digital Archive at Avery Library
Margaret Smithglass, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University & Katherine Prater Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University

Avery Library has a multi-year project underway to create the Frank Lloyd Wright Digital Archive (FLWDA), designed to make our Wright collections accessible online. These holdings include a wide range of formats, including drawings, photographs, correspondence and audiovisual materials. The project’s first phase, a three-year donor-funded initiative, is focused on Wright’s residential drawings, which comprise over half of the collection’s more than 24,000 drawings, spanning the entirety of his career from 1885-1959. What was initially conceived of as a traditional, albeit large-scale, digital imaging project has presented unexpected opportunities to critically assess how the collection has been historically described and used. This presentation will provide a progress update on the two years since our introduction of the project at AASL in 2023. We will highlight the project’s reparative cataloging and digital publishing aspects, which have together enhanced content discoverability and supported outreach to Avery’s diverse and expanding community of users.

PRESENTERS
Margaret Smithglass (she/her/hers) is Head of Exhibitions and Digital Asset Management at the Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. Working with Avery's three special collections (Avery Classics, Drawings & Archives, and Art Properties), she oversees the creation and management of digital assets representing objects for discovery, publication, and exhibition, and coordinates all details related to external exhibition loans, domestic and international.

Katherine Prater (she/her/hers) Katherine Prater is the Digital Project and Outreach Librarian at Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. She is the Project Manager for the Frank Lloyd Wright Digital Archive project, overseeing the daily operations of the digitization, metadata, web publishing, and outreach components of the project.

Crisis and Care: Rewriting Disaster Response for the People Behind Recovery
Lauren Gottlieb-Miller, University of Houston

Disaster plans in libraries, archives, and museums center collections recovery but overlook the simultaneous impact that disasters have on our staff. These plans assume an immediate response to disaster and collections recovery which can be unrealistic or impossible to activate when disaster disrupts the lives of those responsible for leading and executing recovery efforts. Most disaster plans and recovery response literature focus on the necessity for rapid recovery of materials which may produce better outcomes for overall collection recovery and loss minimization, and doesn't account for the personal and community impacts of extreme weather. Library staff dealing with extreme weather events and recovery at home while shouldering the burden of recovering their collections are faced with the impossible challenge of balancing the two, compounding trauma and stress for staff.
This presentation explores the necessity to shift responsibility for disaster recovery, adjust and adapt response approaches, and improve priority setting so that staff needs are incorporated into institutional documentation and recovery plans. Using recent extreme weather events in the Houston metro-area as examples, this presentation will highlight how these events affected library staff, making existing recovery plans impractical and unworkable. By highlighting gaps in current institutional disaster response policies, the speaker will propose a framework for institutional recovery after extreme weather events – one that prioritizes the well-being of staff and formalizes this care in institutional documentation and disaster recovery plans.

PRESENTER
Lauren Gottlieb-Miller (she/her) is the Associate Dean for Special Libraries and Preservation. Lauren's research interests include museum libraries, digital preservation and disaster preparedness, and the history of the book in the United States from the hand press period to the digital present. Currently she is working on an edited volume for the Associate for College and Research Libraries Publications in Librarianship Series on Print Stewardship in academic libraries. She serves on the board for the Texas Collections Emergency Resource Alliance (TX-CERA).

BREAK (11:50 AM - 12:00 PM)

AASL AWARDS LUNCH (12:15 - 2:00 PM)

TOUR (2:30 - 4:00 PM) - St Louis Cemetery #2 (walking or public transit options)

Tour provided by Heather Veneziano, Professor of Practice and Interim Director of Historic Preservation at Tulane University

BREAK (4:00 - 6:30 PM)

ACSA CLOSING KEYNOTE (6:30 - 7:30 PM)

KATE ORFF - 2025 TAU SIGMA DELTA GOLD MEDAL

Kate Orff, RLA, FASLA, is the Founder of SCAPE. She focuses on retooling the practice of landscape architecture relative to the uncertainty of climate change and creating spaces to foster social life, which she has explored through publications, activism, research, and projects.

Widely recognized as a leading voice in landscape architecture, urban design, and climate adaptation in a global context, she is known for advancing complex, creative, and collaborative work that advances broad environmental and social prerogatives.

Among her many accolades, Kate became the first landscape architect to receive the MacArthur Foundation’s prestigious “genius” grant in 2017. In 2019, she was elevated to the ASLA Council of Fellows, accepted a National Design Award in Landscape Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt, and was named a “Hero of the Harbor” by the Waterfront Alliance. In 2020, she was named Urbanist of the Year by The Architect’s Newspaper. In 2023, she was named to the TIME 100, the magazine’s annual list of the most influential people in the world.

ACSA CLOSING RECEPTION (7:30 PM)