Hand in Hand: Connecting, Supporting, and Sustaining California Memory Labs
Webinar
Thursday, April 30th, 2026
2:00 p.m. EDT / 1:00 p.m. CDT / 12:00 p.m. MDT / 11:00 a.m. PDT
Duration: Approximately 1 hour
Cost: Free
Hand in Hand: Connecting, Supporting, and Sustaining California Memory Labs
Who gets to preserve their memories? Who gets to contribute to community history? Photographs, videotapes, old concert tickets… memories come in all forms, and when shared, build community and become a part of our living history. Memory labs provide the opportunity to digitize people’s materials and preserve individual, familial, and collective memory in service of the historical record.
The California Memory Lab Network includes over 25 public libraries, in addition to a growing network of community-based organizations leading preservation initiatives. This webinar will introduce the Memory Lab model, highlight California Revealed’s pilot program to build new community-based archives through their public library partnerships, and offer resources to reinforce the national network, including a new California Memory Lab Handbook, as well as digitization kits. We will highlight the work of the South Pasadena Public Library, who are exploring options to make their Memory Lab more ADA-friendly.
While we will not sugarcoat challenges (such as sustainability and network building), we believe participants bring so much love, appreciation, and understanding of the revolutionary applicability and flexibility of the model that the webinar will be positive, uplifting, and in many ways liberating. We hope this discussion will inspire folks interested in starting up a memory lab or seeking advice for maintaining one.
Note: please email core@ala.org to request accommodations.
Who Should Attend
Librarians, archivists, memory workers, and anyone interested in memory labs, community-based preservation, memory work, community archives, and time-based media.
Presenters
Wilde Davis is a Los Angeles-based film programmer and moving image archivist. Originally from Indiana, they are pursuing an MLIS degree at UCLA, specializing in Media Archival Studies. Their research focuses on immersive media conservation and audiovisual repatriation. They serve as Co-Chair of UCLA’s AMIA Student Chapter and were a 2025 AMIA Pathways Fellow. As the California Revealed Memory Lab Intern, they assessed existing digitization equipment, interviewed memory labs across the state, and developed a memory lab handbook and resource guide. Currently, they are working with the UCLA Film & Television Archive on preserving artist Gina Kim’s virtual reality and immersive media works. Upon graduating, they hope to pursue a career in time-based media conservation. They received their BSFS in Culture and Politics from Georgetown University in 2019. Prior to attending UCLA, they were the Head of Marketing and Communications and a programmer for Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest in London.
Guadalupe M. (they/she) is the Audiovisual Digitization and Preservation Manager with California Revealed and holds an M.L.I.S. from San José State University. Over the past three years, they have helped organize resources and communications for Memory Labs across California, supporting more than 25+ labs where patrons can digitize their own memories. Through collaborations with field leaders such as UCLA’s Library and Media Preservation Lab and San Francisco’s BAVC Media, and via California Revealed’s in-person and online Memory Lab Training and Support, there is a growing California Memory Lab Network. Guadalupe is committed to creating new pathways for memory work and empowering people to recognize and assert their place in California history.
Olivia Radbill (she/her) is a Los Angeles-based librarian and archivist. She currently serves as the Adult Services/Local History Librarian at the South Pasadena Public Library and teaches at Pasadena City College and Louisiana State University. She has extensive experience in volunteer coordination, programming, public libraries, academic reference, grant writing, collection management, and archival work.
#PreservationWeek