Your name, pronouns, current or most recent work place and position (for students, please tell us what school you’re attending and if you have chosen a specialization):
My name is Mimosa Shah, and my pronouns are she/her/hers. I’m currently Associate Curator for the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which sits on the unceded and traditional lands of the Massachusett people. (Note, this is an acknowledgement of the ongoing dialogue taking place between Harvard University’s Native American Program (HUNAP) and the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, and is not a position that has been taken up campus-wide.)
My role is a 2-year term position and is part of Harvard Library’s Diversity Residency Program. I am now in my second year of the program. I’ve had a great experience working with my team at my specific repository, where I’ve gained first-hand experience with acquisition of archival collections, exhibit curation, and teaching with primary sources among other aspects of special collections librarianship.
How long have you been an APALA member? What drew you to join? (If you are currently volunteering on an APALA committee or are an EB officer, please include that here!)
I have been an APALA member since 2019. I had just attended the 2019 ALA Annual Conference, where I completed my Emerging Leaders project with a fantastic cohort of library workers. Seeking to find other allies within the library profession, and wondering how I might contribute to a space dedicated to Asian American and Pacific Islander librarians, I decided to attend one of APALA’s events.
Following the conference, I decided to join and gradually became involved with projects like the joint APALA/CALA “Path to Leadership: National Forum on Advancing APIA Librarianship.” Later, I helped organize the APALA’s 2023 ALA Annual Conference activities as part of its Local Arrangements Task Force.
We’re very interested in the diversity of ethnic/cultural heritage within APALA. Please share your ethnic/cultural heritage with us and any other background information, as desired.
I was born in India, a daughter of parents with roots in Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. I emigrated to the U.S. with my mother just before my first birthday. My parents initially intended for their stay to be temporary, with every hope of returning to their homeland. When that didn’t materialize, we ended up staying in the States for good. I eventually obtained my U.S. citizenship and later settled in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Yet when asked about my heritage today, I now identify as South Asian American, with a nod to my ancestors whose homes are in what is now called India and Bangladesh.
What aspects of library work do you find most compelling? Please share some of your professional goals and interests.
I fell into library work by chance in 2014, following a career path that took me from customer service to nonprofit work, grant writing, mobilizing volunteers for political campaigns, and eventually, the development and assessment of library programming. Through the course of my work at a public library, I realized that I get excited about connecting folks and helping them find what they need to continue on their respective journeys. Whether it’s turning students on to a resource that will help them with their capstone project or brainstorming with fellow colleagues about what to include in their professional development plan, I’m here for them. At heart, I’m a people person with introverted tendencies and a surprising latitude for remembering faces and odd facts. I feel lucky to do what I do and I am encouraged to do better when I’m surrounded by others equally willing to learn and grow.
I graduated from library school in May 2022, and now work for a repository that holds collections documenting the lives of women and minoritized genders. Part of my work is to learn about ethical curatorial practices and contribute to a new collection development strategy that strives for inclusion. Working at a predominantly white institution, I understand both the impact and the tenuousness of these initiatives and spaces. Such initiatives and spaces can easily be eliminated, distorted, or co-opted in ways that do not serve the creators and holders of these stories and artifacts. I am heartened, however, by the examples set forth by my team members to do right by our mission, leading with love rather than fear and scarcity. It feels especially rewarding to me when I’m able to play a part in creating space for the many stories and artifacts of communities that have been historically excluded.
Above all, I am compelled by the chance to make a tangible, distinct difference in how we understand ourselves, with the library– and its collections, resources, and spaces– as a catalyst for such personal reflection and realization. I recognize my limitations, though, and am therefore eager to listen and learn from others about how to be a better student and, in turn, a better teacher in the library classroom.
Of course, volunteering with APALA has given me invaluable opportunities to develop camaraderie and to actively show up when possible for other members. I would be remiss to not mention the unique personalities that helped me get to where I am now, some of whom I first encountered through APALA.
If you’ve got a big move, publication, webinar, conference presentation, or social media presence that you’d like APALA members to know about, let us know here!
I am especially excited about the debut of an exhibit I curated for the Schlesinger Library. Rewrite, Organize, Remix: Visions of Feminist Organizing will feature selections from the Schlesinger’s archival collections to tell stories of how community organizers and activists galvanized various feminist movements of the 1960s and onwards, using letters, pamphlets, posters, notes, speech drafts, zines, and memorabilia. Really psyched that we’ll be featuring a zine from the Asian American Feminist Collective. I also created a soundtrack to accompany the exhibit. I conceived the list while considering what music might have served as background to the many liberation movements that intersected during these decades of struggle, strife, and joy.
I also decided to take the plunge and submit two photographs to Harvard University’s Annual Staff Art Show. A virtual kick-off will take place on February 4, 2024, while the two photos will be on display later this year at the Graduate School of Education’s Gutman Library Gallery between May 6 through June 10, 2024.
For notices of these ‘happenings,’ folks can follow my Instagram (@mimosaishere).
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
If you see me at a library conference or another covening, don’t hesitate to say ‘hi.’ I’m always down for coffee and conversation, sending postcards, and being a source of encouragement for fellow library workers.