91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — Bestselling author, educator and cultural critic Roxane Gay is teaming up with the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), a division of the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½), to share her years of experience as a writer, storyteller and social commentator during Preservation Week, April 26 – May 2, 2020. A recurrent contributor to a variety of publications, including the New York Times, Gay writes about cultural, political and social issues.

Author of Ayiti, "An Untamed State," the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger, Gay is a leading voice in modern feminism and numerous social justice movements. Her oral and written accounts of the current social and political climate, along with her active online presence, make her the ideal honorary chair to support the 2020 Preservation Week theme of “Preserving Oral History”.

“Preserving our cultural history is as important now as it has ever been,” Roxane states. “We are living in a time of great social turmoil, but this is not the first time the world has seen such upheaval, nor will it be the last. We know this because of preservation, because storytelling is such an integral part of social justice movements, and librarians have been committed to preserving those stories and other artifacts from these movements. I am honored to serve as this year's Preservation Week Honorary Chair as the very people who will preserve the stories of how the world is currently responding to injustice, gather to learn, connect and remember.”

As Preservation Week 2020 Honorary Chair, Gay will appear in Preservation Week artwork and will chronicle preservation efforts through various social media channels. You can also follow her on Twitter with and connect with her on Facebook at as she discusses pertinent social and cultural issues.

This year’s Preservation Week theme is “Preserving Oral History”, and participating libraries will celebrate by offering special programs and services to connect library users with preservation tools, promote the importance of preservation and strive to enhance knowledge of preservation issues among the general public. Institutions around the world will be using the hashtag #preswk to talk about their preservation programs and services. In addition, Preservation Week will be celebrating 10 years of promoting preservation and conservation in libraries, institutions and communities. Visit the for more information on Preservation Week 2020.

Preservation Week is supported by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, a division of the 91´«Ã½.