IACRL at ILA 2024 Conference Wrap-Up
October 15, 2024
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By Kim Tipton, McHenry County College
The 2024 Illinois Library Association Conference was held October 8-10 at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois. The theme this year was “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 was held on Wednesday October 10. Participants selected the topics they wanted to discuss and shared ideas. This was a great opportunity to meet other academic library workers, including those new to academic library work or to IACRL.
IACRL Luncheon
The IACRL luncheon was held on Oct 9 and featured speaker Zachary Benedict, President of MKM architecture + design. Zachary discussed equitable design and how that impacts feelings of belonging and purpose.
Academic-Track Sessions
There was a wide variety of academic-track sessions this year that discussed issues such as burnout, mentorship for catalogers, book bans, digital equity, and more.
Other sessions included:
- Fat Liberation in Libraries: Imagining a More Equitable and Accessible Future, by Emily Gilbert, University of Illinois Chicago
- Card Sorting for Outreach, Engagement, and Improvement, by Christina Norton, Bradley University; Jennifer Stubbs, Bradley University; and Michelle Nielsen Ott, Bradley University
- Illuminating Digital Equity for Libraries, by Anne Slaughter, Reaching Across Illinois Library System and Troy Brown, Illinois Heartland Library System
- Sparking a Practice of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging Through Culturally Sustaining Information Literacy, by Rob Morrison, National Louis University
- Time for a Change! Updating Access Points for Inclusivity (Presented by the Resources & Technical Services Forum), by 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; and Sara Scodius, Northbrook Public Library
- Statewide Databases: Ins, Outs, and Everywhere in Between, by Ryan Franklin, Illinois State Library and Suzanna Jones, Illinois State Library
- AI in the Library: Helping Students Navigate the World of Artificial Intelligence (poster session), by Elizabeth Nelson and Kim Tipton, McHenry County College
- High Impact, Low Stress: Impactful and Attainable DEIA Initiatives for Academic Libraries (poster session) by Donna Goodwin; Jacqueline Zook; and Jade Kastel, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
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