It's #askanarchivist day - throw me your questions! I am asking myself some tough ones, like how do we make archives/special collections welcoming and accessible in an inherently gatekept industry with a history of exclusivity and privileged whiteness?

How do we accomplish all the reforms to both access and language that we'd like to do with the small staff and resources so many of us have to work with?

How do we best support our BIPOC colleagues (and potential colleagues) when our industry is built on unpaid internships, volunteering, and temporary employment and when museums/libraries are facing unprecedented layoffs?

How do we collect (and therefore represent) a wider variety of people's experiences without exploitation? Is "collecting" even the right framework? Perhaps a shift towards larger institutional support of community archives (without expectations)?

And don't get me wrong - I really love the work I do. I think archives are not neutral and are also vital. But I also see the inherent problems in this field and I think we need to always be asking ourselves these critical questions.