Who is GAACAI?

GAACAI is a growing collective of librarians, archivists, and artists. The founding members of GAACAI are:

ERICA BRUCHKO

Erica Bruchko is the United States History and African American Studies Librarian at Emory University Libraries. She has a PhD in History from Emory University and a BA in History and Anthropology from the University of South Carolina. Bruchko has worked on several historical periodical projects. She is currently on the coordinating committee of the Wayfinder Project, an NEH-funded initiative to reimagine the influential text African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography using linked open data. She is a founding member of the Georgia Asian American Community Archive Initiative (GAACAI) and is an active member of the American Library Association’s History Section, where she has organized panels and workshops on community engagement initiatives, managing historical collections, and archival literacy. During her tenure at Emory, Bruchko has also led multiple projects related to Atlanta History. In 2016, she was a co-curator of the Changing Atlanta Exhibition and in 2012 served on the Battle of Atlanta digital project team, an initiative to create an educational app to tour battle sites across the city.

KEEZA HAMEED

Keeza Hameed is the Science Librarian for Biology and Neuroscience at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She holds a degree in psychology from the University of Georgia and an advanced degree in complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine from Georgetown University.

SAIRA RAZA

Saira Raza is the Goizueta Business Library’s (GBL) liaison to the Organization and Management department as well as the Executive MBA program. Before coming to Emory, Saira spent three years as a research specialist at King and Spalding, one year as a library services coordinator at Cadence Group, and four years as a corporate librarian for Lehman Brothers. She also owned the Grounds Coffeehouse on the West End.

GAUTHAM REDDY

Gautham Reddy is the South Asia and Religion Librarian at Emory University Libraries. He received his PhD in South Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago and an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Reddy has worked with the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) as a community archivist and is a founding member of the Georgia Asian American Community Archive Initiative (GAACAI). He is an active research scholar publishing in peer-reviewed journals and is currently working on a research monograph focused on the history of literature and education in colonial India. At present he serves as Chair of the Executive Board of the Committee on South Asia Libraries and Documentation (CONSALD) and is an active member of the Association of Asian Studies. Reddy is also managing editor for the public humanities web journal, Maidaanam, a dynamic online space focused on making academic scholarship on South Asia accessible to a wider audience through essays, literary translations, and author interviews.

CHELLA VAIDYANATHAN

Chella Vaidyanathan is the European/World History, Philosophy, and Classics Librarian at Emory University Libraries. She has an academic background in Modern European and Modern South Asian History. She holds an MLS in Library Science, an MA in Modern European History, an MPhil in Indian History, and an MA in South Asian History. She is a founding member of the Georgia Asian American Community Archive Initiative (GAACAI). She has served on various committees of the Association of College and Research Libraries, the American Library Association, and the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association. Vaidyanathan is a passionate advocate for the humanities and has successfully organized several public events. In addition, Vaidyanathan is a visual artist who utilizes creative activities, such as zine-making and collage, to engage community members in exploring their personal histories and cultural identities. As a member of the South Asian diaspora community in the United States, she is committed to collecting and preserving Asian American archival collections related to migration and global history. Leveraging her extensive library and archival professional experience, her subject expertise in the humanities, and language skills, Vaidyanathan works closely with Asian American communities to incorporate their materials into Emory University Libraries’ collections for this project.