Registration is open for the ARL Fall Forum 2020, to be hosted virtually by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) on Thursday, October 8. The theme of this year’s Fall Forum is “Leading Libraries toward Anti-racism in a Changing World.” The 2020 forum is designed to help library leaders who are now challenged with leading their organizations, often with reduced funding, in a dynamic and increasingly volatile environment. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued protests against white supremacy, the Fall Forum will explore how research libraries can keep anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion at the forefront and contribute to progress in transforming organizational culture and society for the better.
The Fall Forum features the Julia C. Blixrud Memorial Lecture and the Julia C. Blixrud Scholarship, which supports the attendance of one master of library and information science (MLIS) student or recent graduate at the forum each year. Applications for the Julia C. Blixrud Scholarship are due on Thursday, September 3, 2020. The scholarship awardee will use social media to communicate about the Fall Forum during the event and will write a summary of their participation to be published by ARL after the event.
Speakers
The sixth annual Blixrud Memorial Lecture (sponsored by EBSCO) will be delivered by Safiya Umoja Noble. An associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, she is the author of the best-selling book on racist and sexist algorithmic bias in commercial search engines, Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism.
In addition to the keynote, there will be several programs focusing on actions against racism and in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and leading during a pandemic. Speakers will be listed on the schedule as they are announced.
How can ARL help research libraries move forward in these areas? Join us to share your ideas at this year’s ARL Fall Forum.
Registration
Registration for the 2020 Fall Forum opens Friday, August 7. The registration fees are as follows:
- $100 for employees of ARL member institutions
- $150 for all others
The deadline to register is Wednesday, September 30, 2020.
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in Canada and the US whose mission is to advance research, learning, and scholarly communication. The Association fosters the open exchange of ideas and expertise, promotes equity and diversity, and pursues advocacy and public policy efforts that reflect the values of the library, scholarly, and higher education communities. ARL forges partnerships and catalyzes the collective efforts of research libraries to enable knowledge creation and to achieve enduring and barrier-free access to information. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
