Education and Workforce Development Cabinet
Kentucky State Archivist completes term as president of Council of State Archivists

FRANKFORT, Ky.   – Barbara Teague, Kentucky state archivist and records administrator and Public Records division director at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA), recently completed a one-year term as president of the Council of State Archivists (CoSA) at the 2011 CoSA annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn. CoSA is the national organization of the directors of state archival programs in the 50 states, the U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. 

Some of CoSA’s projects during Teague’s term included starting a State Electronic Records Initiative project; managing a $2.6 million Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) grant to develop and deliver records-related emergency preparedness training for state and local government officials; improving support for the work of the State Historical Records Advisory Boards in each state; and increasing advocacy for and awareness of the pivotal role of government records in documenting government, securing rights, promoting history, and ensuring democracy and transparency. Teague testified in June 2010 at a congressional hearing held by a subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in support of funding for historical records.

“It has been an honor for me,” Teague said in her presidential address to the membership, “to continue CoSA’s long history of cooperation in working with the other state archivists to strengthen state and territorial archives in their important work to preserve America’s historical records. In these lean budget years, it is helpful to work collaboratively and innovatively to preserve and make accessible the records of our democracy.”

Teague is a graduate of Harlan High School in Harlan, Ky., the University of Kentucky, and the University of Virginia. She has worked as an archivist at KDLA since 1983, and was appointed Kentucky state archivist and records administrator in February 2008. She served CoSA on several committees and project teams before her election to the CoSA board of directors in 2008, and will continue to serve on several committees in her role as immediate past president.  

For further information, please visit the KDLA website, www.kdla.ky.gov, or the CoSA website, www.statearchivists.org.

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