The Archives Association of Ontario has designated April 7th to 10th as Archives Awareness Week!
As our province and our country faces tough financial times and a shift towards austerity, there is an increasing need to show the vital role that archives play in preserving our history and protecting democracy. Now is the time to collectively raise our voices and advocate for archives. Therefore, our theme for 2026 is: “Archives Activism: Advocating for Archives Survival.” This week is your opportunity to celebrate the creative ways you speak up and out for your repository and for archives in general.
Share your story of resistance and advocacy! Your submissions can be personal stories about your work as an archivist, descriptions of advocacy initiatives within your organization, or brief highlights of archival fonds related to activism.
No submission is too short or too long - archives have always been political and now, more than ever, we need to engage with activism in our professional practice.
Stories will be collected and posted to the AAO's 2026 Archives Awareness Week page to celebrate archives activism during 2026's Archives Awareness Week. Images will also be compiled and shared on our social media accounts throughout the week!
We kindly ask that stories be submitted Friday, March 20, 2026 by filling out this form. The form collects your email as the point of contact for posting your story to the AAO website. If you are not the point of contact for your story, please include the relevant email.
If you have any issues using the form to submit you can email your submission to the Communications and Advocacy Committee Chair at communications@aao-archivists.ca. If submitting via email, together with your submission please include your name and/or name of your institution, a title, any image captions and alt-text, any citations or resources, and indicate if we have your permission to post the images you provide onto our social media pages.
Reach out to the Communications and Advocacy Committee Chair with any questions at communications@aao-archivists.ca.
