The 2026-2027 election for Society of Tennessee Archivists Executive Committee will be conducted via an online distributed to regular members of the Society.

Polls will open Tuesday, October 13 and will close Tuesday, October 27.

This election provides members with an opportunity to select the Society’s leadership for the upcoming term.

This election begins a 2026-2028 transition cycle adopted to establish staggered terms across the Executive Committee. While the STA bylaws describe three-year terms for most officers, certain positions elected in 2026 will serve shorter terms to support the transition to a staggered structure. Following the transition cycle, officers will return to standard bylaw terms, with elections continuing on a staggered schedule to ensure continuity and prevent complete turnover of the Executive Committee.

Candidates

Vice President/President Elect (Three year term—one as Vice President, one as President, one as Past President)

• Teresa Gray

Treasurer (One year term)

• Sarah Coffman

Secretary (Two year term)

• Faith McConnon

Archivist (Two year term)

• Samuel S. Richardson
• Rachel Salvatori

Webmaster (One year term)

• Carolyn Runyon

Newsletter Editor (Two year term)

• Molly Copeland

Candidate Statements

Teresa Gray

I am excited to be considered for the vice president role for the Society of Tennessee Archivists. I have served on the Education Committee for the last year and was happy to help this team with the inaugural Spring ’26 learning session with Zach Johnson. I am eager to expand my service in STA by supporting the activities of the Executive Committee and increasing my involvement in the organization. Currently I serve as member-at-large for the Executive Committee of ACRL’s Literatures in English Section as well as co-convener for two of its discussion groups on reference and teaching, and collections. Prior to these appointments, I served as a member and co-chair of ACRL’s University Libraries Section Communications Committee. I have learned and benefited greatly from all my professional appointments and hope to continue giving back to the communities which have helped me grow in the profession.

Sarah Coffman

My name is Sarah Coffman and I am the Digital Production and Accessibility Specialist in Special Collections at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for three years. I have a background working in banking and finance for three years, and a Bachelor’s in History/minor Anthropology, MA in History and MLIS. I have served as the Chair of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Library Staff Council from 2025-2026, and now serving a 3-year term as an elected Senator for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga University Staff Senate. I believe these experiences have given me the foundation to support the efforts of STA at the Executive level as we continue to evolve.

Faith McConnon

I would be honored to be STA’s next Secretary. During my undergrad years in 2020, I was the Secretary of my local chapter of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity where I coordinated with my Executive Board and Committee Chairs to ensure our Chapter Meeting minutes were ready on a weekly basis. I have taken that skill into my professional career as I take minutes at weekly staff meetings and monthly facilities meetings. I make sure that attendees have access to minutes and related documents before and after meetings, and send out updated minutes as needed. As the Archivist and Archives Manager at VU’s University Archives, I know they will become part of the archives I already manage, so I make sure the file formatting is reliable and file naming conventions are standard.

Samuel S. Richardson

I have served as the Society of Tennessee Archivists’ Archivist over the past year and would welcome the opportunity to continue serving in this capacity. During my first year in the role, I have gained valuable experience and developed a better understanding of the responsibilities, expectations, and needs associated with serving as the Society’s Archivist.

Rachel Salvatori

I am excited to nominate myself to serve as the Society of Tennessee Archivists’ Archivist. Throughout my professional career and education, I have had the opportunity to serve on the executive board of several organizations, most recently as Secretary of the Tennessee Health Science Library Association. I have enjoyed becoming more involved with STA as a member of the Nominating Committee, which has helped me gain a deeper understanding of the Society’s membership and mission. Since STA has provided me with many valuable connections and learning opportunities, I would be honored to give back to the organization by serving as STA Archivist. As an emerging archivist in Tennessee, I am particularly excited about the opportunity to contribute to STA as I continue to grow professionally in my new role as Archives Associate at the Metropolitan Government Archives, a division of the Nashville Public Library. Thank you for your consideration of my nomination.

Carolyn Runyon

Since October 2023, I have served the Society of Tennessee Archivists (STA) as the Vice President, President, Past President, and Webmaster. Most recently, as Webmaster, I am leading a member-informed process to develop a new logo, brand guidelines, and web presence. At each stage of the process, I have solicited member feedback and communicated that feedback to the design firm assisting with our efforts. In addition to managing the branding and website migration projects, I created a Google Group for the Society to encourage conversation. At the time of writing, the Google Group includes eighty members. In my role as Past President, I led a session at the 2025 Annual Meeting to determine the future direction of the Society. Since our last Annual Meeting, I have distributed two surveys soliciting additional feedback from members about our mission, vision, and values, culminating in a vote to amend our Bylaws to reflect our revised direction. I hope to continue in my current role as Webmaster for another year to fully realize the website migration and document our local practices so that future webmasters can easily manage our website and brand. Thank you for your participation in the Society and considering my nomination.

Molly Copeland

I am running for a second term as Newsletter Editor with the intention to continue the work I've started this year. Since February, I have put out two newsletters and am on schedule to put out two more before the Annual Meeting in October. With the increased frequency, I have tried to encourage more members to share timely updates such as recent acquisitions, facility updates, and job postings. With the latest Spring issue, I launched what is intended to be a recurring feature, "Repository Spotlight," which highlights a different Tennessee repository and its collections in each issue. I would love the opportunity to continue in this role for another two years to continue to develop the newsletter's contents, to increase the number of contributions per issue, and to refine the process of editing each issue. I welcome any feedback on the newsletters so far this year!