The Inland Empire Archives Fair took place on October 22 under the arches of the Tomás Rivera Library walkway, bringing together students, community members, librarians, and regional partners in celebration of American Archives Month. 

Visitors connected with organizations such as the Museum of Riverside, Mission Inn Museum, Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, the Inland Empire Labor Council AFL-CIO, and many others to learn about local history and preservation work.

A popular stop for attendees was the table offering a limited-edition Scotty sticker and zine. Earlier this year, our Special Collections & University Archives invited UCR students to design their own versions of Scotty, the UCR mascot, using images of Scotty from the archives as inspiration. The winning design was printed as a sticker and a zine showcasing all qualifying student entries was produced. Both were given away at the fair for free.

Another highlight was Labor of Love: Our Power is Our People, a portion of a pop-up exhibit that was hosted at the Inland Empire Labor Council table at the fair. The exhibit introduced attendees to an ongoing project documenting the history of labor organizing in the region through archival materials and interviews.

Some related programming took place earlier in the week. Pathways to Academic Librarianship, Archives, and Preservation Careers offered students an overview of careers in libraries, archives and museums and provided guidance on how to pursue those career paths. Now & Then: Archiving Queer History, a zine-making workshop presented in collaboration with the IE Print & Zine Fest and the UCR LGBT Resource Center, encouraged participants to explore LGBTQ+ history through creative zine-making. On the day of the fair, attendees also took part in Archiving for Artists: Photography, a hands-on workshop focused on caring for photographic collections.

The Inland Empire Archives Fair once again highlighted the collaborative efforts taking place to preserve Inland Southern California history and to make local archives accessible, creative, and community-centered.

Check out what you missed (or relive the day) by viewing our 2025 Inland Empire Archives Fair photo album.