Currently, we are only accepting Posters & Promos participation requests.
Preserve, Adapt, Endure: Building Resilient State and Territorial Archives
The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) is pleased to announce its third independently hosted annual meeting for state and territorial archivists and archives staff. Our annual meeting provides a dynamic opportunity to share work, exchange ideas, and engage in conversations around issues unique to our community.
This year's theme centers on resilience. Recent years have brought many challenges to state and territorial archives. We invite you to contemplate how your institution has faced adversity and come through it in ways that demonstrate our professional dedication to preservation, our ability to adapt, and our resilience in the face of large-scale challenges. Consider proposals that can provide other state or territorial archives with guidance for how to overcome a pressing issue and build stronger practices on the other side.
Please note that proposals do NOT have to align with the conference theme, so please feel free to submit any session that you see fit for potential inclusion in this year’s program. Some potential session topics include but are not limited to:
- Managing staffing shortages and staff turnover
- Navigating inadequate resources, like budget shortfalls or infrastructure challenges
- Archiving social media and webpages in a shifting environment
- The use (and pitfalls) of AI in archival settings
- Balancing access and confidentiality
- Successful partnerships with underrepresented/disadvantaged groups/collections without burdening that group
- Psychology through archives
- Unconventional archives or records management outreach
- Reparative description and its implementation
We strongly encourage you to partner with other state or territorial archives to collaborate on building a session proposal. Please use this Google Sheet if you’d like to collaborate on a session.
New at the 2026 CoSA Annual Meeting: Posters & Promos Session
Do you have creative outreach materials, exhibits, posters, educational programming, or promotional campaigns related to America250 or your state’s upcoming statehood celebration? We invite you to participate in our new Posters & Promos session at the CoSA Annual Meeting!
This informal and interactive session is designed to give members an opportunity to showcase the innovative ways their institutions are commemorating America250 and statehood anniversaries through public programming, exhibits, outreach initiatives, marketing materials, and educational resources.
Participants may choose to:
- Present a poster highlighting a project, program, exhibit, or initiative
- Share brochures, rack cards, promotional giveaways, educational materials, or other outreach items
- Discuss lessons learned, audience engagement strategies, or partnership opportunities
- Inspire fellow members with ideas and approaches that can be adapted in other states and institutions
Whether your work is already underway or still in development, we encourage participation from institutions of all sizes and at all stages of planning.
This session will provide attendees with an opportunity to:
- Exchange ideas and inspiration
- Discover new approaches to public engagement
- Learn from peers across the country
- Build connections around America250 and statehood programming efforts
Interested in participating? Please let us know you plan to take part by responding to the call for participation. Additional logistical details, including poster specifications and setup information, will be shared with participants in advance of the meeting.
We look forward to showcasing the creativity and collaboration happening across the CoSA community.
Currently, we are only accepting participation proposals for the Posters & Promos session. Please use the "Submit Your Proposal" button below to submit your participation request electronically.