ALT Graphic of an old ledger with a blue square and an orange rectangle below. The text states: Working with the Public! As the general public is largely unfamiliar with archives, never miss an opportunity to educate your community and share your excitement about what they can discover in your holdings.

ALT Graphic of an orange background with dark orange hexagons. The text reads: Supporting the general public in their discovery of archives helps archives become a policy priority. There are many ways to encourage interest in archives in your area!

ALT Graphic of an orange background with dark orange hexagons. The text reads: Involve Teachers and Students! Connect with local teachers of history, social studies, and other relevant disciplines about the benefits of introducing primary sources to students: archives can engage students and help them to connect with history and also teach critical thinking and media literacy skills. Create pre-selected, curriculum-appropriate educational packages based on materials in your holdings. Make sure that they are ready to use, available digitally and could be used to build lesson plans. Offer tours of the archives for local classes or go into schools to have an annual “archives show and tell.”

ALT Graphic of an orange background with dark orange hexagons. The text has two sections. The first reads: Involve Your Community! Organize workshops and walking tours and advertise them via a community calendar and social media Attend and display your materials at heritage festivals Sponsor a lecture by a researcher who has used your collection Build a social media following by posting digitized items from your holdings on a regular basis. The second text area reads: Involve your friends! Next time you visit an archives, arrange to bring a friend or two. Help them find information about their ancestors, their hometown—their areas of interest. They'll thank you for opening a new world of information to them.