Forward Thinking Strategies: Envisioning a Collaborative and Hybrid Library at Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino

Abstract

During the summer and fall of 2022, I was a Graduate Latino Museum Studies Fellow (LMSP) with Smithsonian Institution’s (SI) National Museum of the American Latino (NMAL) and Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (SLA). I was tasked with conducting a deep dive exploration about how SLA and NMAL can create a hybrid Research Center Library in the nation’s newest and yet to be opened museum. Through a series of stakeholder interviews, a targeted literature review, and external environmental scans I assembled a written report of findings and recommendations and created a robust database visualization. This report and dataset were made in service of NMAL and SLA leadership and help them visualize a successful research services model for NMAL. The values of sustained collaboration and community-building guided this exploration with the intent to reveal the needs of both internal and external community stakeholders.

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Keywords

Latino., Smithsonian., National Museum of the American Latino., Smithsonian Libraries and Archives., Data analysis., Internship Report., Hispanic., Latinx., Latina., Qualitative Interview.

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