Next Lab at the Arizona Library Association Conference – We Want Your Stories

Next Lab’s own Shelby Cavanaugh Toft – ASU student and storytelling lead for the AZ-1 initiative – and Kelly Chung Mukherjee will be running a community storytelling workshop at the Arizona Library Association’s annual conference. If you’re there, we’d love to see you.

Join us from 10–11am and bring your stories with you.

What we’re collecting — and why it matters

The AZ-1 project has one clear goal: fill a map of Arizona with real community impact stories. Not data points. Not program metrics. Stories — from the people living them.

We’re looking for three kinds:

Broadband access — How did reliable internet in Arizona help someone learn, work, or connect in a way they couldn’t before?

Digital literacy and technology access — How has gaining a new digital skill, or getting access to the right technology, improved daily life, education, or work for someone in your community?

Partnership and collaboration — How did organizations coming together help close the digital divide? What problem were you trying to solve, and what did working together make possible?

Arizona is doing remarkable work to help communities thrive in the digital age. Our job is to help amplify it.

Can’t make it to Tucson?

You don’t need to be at the conference to be part of this.

Submit your story directly at az-1.info/submit-story — we want to hear from libraries, community organizations, educators, students, and anyone whose life or work has been shaped by digital access and connectivity in Arizona.

Every story adds to the map. Every story matters.

Event details

📍 Arizona Library Association Annual Conference — Tucson, Arizona 🕙 Storytelling Workshop: 10–11am 🔗 Submit a story anytime: az-1.info/submit-story

Next Lab is ASU’s applied AI and innovation lab, housed within ASU Enterprise Technology. The AZ-1 initiative is a statewide effort to document and amplify community impact stories from across Arizona’s digital equity landscape.