Why do archivists collect artists’ books? In this conversation, UConn archivists Graham Stinnett and Kristin Eshelman reflect on the university’s 20-year partnership with Booklyn and discuss their approaches to collecting, teaching, and curating. At the heart of their work is a shared belief that “archives are for everyone.”

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Graham Stinett is an Archivist overseeing the Human Rights and Alternative Press Collections at the UConn Library, Archives & Special Collections. He holds an M.A. in Archival Studies from the University of Winnipeg/University of Manitoba and a B.A. in History from the University of Manitoba. His work focuses on the archivist as activist and expanding access to archives for a diverse audience. He is the host of d’Archive, an archives radio show and podcast, as well as Curator of the traveling punk rock archives exhibition, Live at The Anthrax: Connecticut’s Hardcore History. Graham currently teaches undergraduate courses on archives, memory, and popular culture.

Kristin Eshelman is the archivist for multimedia collections at Archives & Special Collections. She is responsible for managing collections of special archival materials including photography, film, sound recordings, and artists’ books. In 2015, she became archivist for the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection as well. Kristin has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington College and a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Arizona. Postgraduate education in photography led her to a career in photo archives. From 1992 to 1995, she trained at the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. She served as Photo Archivist for the Kansas Collection and University Archives at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, from 1996 to 2001.