ILA 2024 Conference Preview

Illinois Association of College & Research Libraries Forum (IACRL)

September 26, 2024

By Kim Tipton, McHenry County College

The 2024 Illinois Library Association Conference will be held October 8-10 at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois. The theme this year is “Libraries Are Lit: Sparking Innovation and Imagination,” which celebrates the roles of all library workers for their creativity, originality, and collaboration within our communities.

IACRL Unconference

This year’s IACRL Unconference will be held on Wednesday October 10 from 8 - 10 am. participants to select the topics they want to discuss and share ideas. This is a great opportunity to meet other academic library workers, including those new to academic library work or to IACRL. 

IACRL Luncheon

If you registered to attend the IACRL luncheon on Oct 9 from 12 - 1:30 pm, you’ll hear from our featured speaker Zachary Benedict, President of MKM architecture + design. In his many lectures, Zachary discusses equitable design and how that impacts feelings of belonging and purpose.

IACRL@ILA

There is a wide variety of academic-track sessions again this year discussing issues such as burnout, mentorship for catalogers, book bans, digital equity, and more. For the full conference online program schedule, visit ILA’s Conference Preview page. Here are just a few of the exciting academic-track sessions to consider:

Tuesday Oct 8

10:45-11:45 am - Fat Liberation in Libraries: Imagining a More Equitable and Accessible Future, Emily Gilbert, University of Illinois Chicago

10:45 - 11:45 am - Card Sorting for Outreach, Engagement, and Improvement, Christina Norton, Bradley University; Jennifer Stubbs, Bradley University; Michelle Nielsen Ott, Bradley University

2:45 - 3:45 pm - Illuminating Digital Equity for Libraries, Anne Slaughter, Reaching Across Illinois Library System; Troy Brown, Illinois Heartland Library System

Wednesday Oct 9

1:45 - 2:45 pm - Sparking a Practice of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging Through Culturally Sustaining Information Literacy, Rob Morrison, National Louis University

3:00 - 4:00 pm - Time for a Change! Updating Access Points for Inclusivity (Presented by the Resources & Technical Services Forum), Lisa Schemensky, RSA (Resource Sharing Alliance) at RAILS (Reaching Across Illinois Library System); Lucas McKeever, Downers Grove Public Library; Mary Cornell, Cataloging Maintenance Center at IHLS; RK Knaur, Champaign Public Library; Sara Scodius, Northbrook Public Library

Thursday Oct 10

9:00 - 10:00 am - Statewide Databases: Ins, Outs, and Everywhere in Between, Ryan Franklin

Illinois State Library; Suzanna Jones, Illinois State Library

9:30 - 11:00 pm - Poster Session: AI in the Library: Helping Students Navigate the World of Artificial Intelligence, Elizabeth Nelson, McHenry County College; Kim Tipton, McHenry County College

12:00 - 1:30 pm - Poster Session: High Impact, Low Stress: Impactful and Attainable DEIA Initiatives for Academic Libraries, Donna Goodwin; Jacqueline Zook; Jade Kastel, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

iREAD Summer Reading Programs

Since 1981, iREAD provides high quality, low-cost resources and products that enable local library staff to motivate children, young adults, and adults to read.

Visit the iREAD website »