Message from our Chair, Caroline Hayden
As COVID cases are rising once again this January, it’s hard to feel like anything has changed or improved since last year. But as I look back at DVAG’s activities in 2021, I realize that things did improve us. 2020 was tough, but in 2021 we bounced back and got things rolling again. 2022 will have more of that energy for us. While our numbers decreased slightly to 203 members, I’m confident that as we continue our momentum into 2022, our amazing community will grow.
I am happy to have everyone welcome Kaitlyn Pettingill, Briana Giasullo, Keeley Tulio, Alex Palma, and Christine Nieman to our Planning Committee. I also want to give a big thanks to our Planning Committee members who served their final year in 2021: Shaun Kirkpatrick, Sarah Leu, and Mary Hanes.
Finally, on behalf of the rest of the Planning Committee, I want to thank all of our members. You are what makes DVAG a great community to be a part of, and we can’t have all of our awesome events and community contributions without your support. Thank you.
A Look Back Our Virtual Events And A Special In-Person Event
2021 saw the start of the Fonds Film Club. A virtual event for archivists come together to discuss movies from an archival perspective.
Going virtual did not stop our Programming Committee from hosting some great events like the Virtual Coffee Break, which included learning about Longwood Gardens’ library and archives as well as the National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum and Hagley Museum & Library’s collaborative digitization project.
A great treat for members were virtual events that took us across the pond to learn more about the Irish National Archives and Black Cultural Archives in London.
2021 ended with an opportunity to finally get together for a socially distanced outside holiday gathering hosted by Eastern State Penitentiary.
DVAG Treasurer Report 2021, Shaun Kirkpatrick
2021 marked a second straight year of low expenses due to the pandemic. Combined with a rebound in membership dues, this resulted in $2,053.31 of net income for DVAG in 2021, higher than 2020’s net of $1,700.71 and the largest single-year surplus in the last decade (and perhaps in DVAG history?).
On the income side, DVAG received payments for 70 one-year memberships and 42 three-year memberships. These are our best totals since 2018 (when we processed 85 one-year and 56 three-year memberships), and seem to confirm that every third year (2021, 2018, 2015, etc.) has a notably larger group of memberships up for renewal than the other two years.
We also received $105 in donations in 2021. $85 of these are to our general operating fund, while $10 has been targeted to the SAA Travel Grant Fund and $10 to the Diversity and Inclusion Fund.
On the expenses side, our new Zoom account more than doubled our web-related fees, and we also saw slight increases in our P.O. Box and PayPal fees. However, we only awarded $149 of our budgeted $1,500 in SAA grant awards, only spent $86.85 of our budgeted $500 in DVAG refreshments funds, and did not receive a single reimbursable expense for Archives Month, social (ABA) events, or CoDI award(s).
With fingers crossed events and grants funds can be of greater use in 2022!
Thank you to all the members and officers coming together and continuing DVAG events under such a precarious time.
Delaware Valley Archivists Group 