In commemoration of the American Philosophical Society’s 275th anniversary, the society’s library is hosting an interdisciplinary conference that explores the history of libraries, the present opportunities for libraries, and the potential future for libraries as they continue to evolve in the 21st century. “The Past, Present, and Future of Libraries” will take place Thursday–Saturday, September 27–29, 2018, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Registration for the conference is free and open to all. Support is provided by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Association of Research Libraries.
The conference will feature a keynote discussion on “The Future of Libraries” on Thursday, September 27, at 8:00 p.m. EDT, moderated by Sarah Thomas (vice president for the Harvard Library and university librarian and the Roy E. Larsen Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences), and with comments from Mary Lee Kennedy (executive director, Association of Research Libraries), Khalil Gibran Muhammad (professor of history, race, and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the Suzanne Young Murray Professor at Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies), and Michael Witmore (director, Folger Shakespeare Library).
A second keynote discussion on “The Making of Digital Libraries for the Scholarly Community” with Deanna Marcum (senior advisor, Ithaka S+R) and Donald J. Waters (senior program officer for scholarly communications, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) will be held on Friday, September 28, at 5:30 p.m. EDT.
Friday afternoon also will include three special panels composed of leading figures from public libraries, university and college libraries, and independent research libraries who will share their perspectives on the past, present, and future of their institutions.
Register for this free conference on the American Philosophical Society website. A complete program, hotel information, and more details can be found on the conference website.
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 125 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.
