The Big Pivot Continues
As libraries prepare for in-person or hybrid environments with the return of faculty, researchers, students, and library staff, the Fall 2021 Association Meeting will continue the examination of pandemic-related issues begun during the Spring 2021 Association Meeting. The Spring Meeting explored how research libraries and their institutions responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by addressing many changes rapidly and by leading and planning for continuity in teaching, research, student services, and library services. This was not a time of “business as usual.” Four themes were the focal point of discussions during the Association’s Spring Meeting: the transformation of teaching; the rise of anti-intellectualism; the dissemination of misinformation/disinformation; and the social justice mission of our institutions.
In the spring, speakers challenged ARL member representatives to consider a number of questions: How are these phenomena transforming the world around us? What does a post-pandemic research institution look like? What opportunities do research libraries now have to deliver services better? What is the library’s (or the university’s) next goal or challenge? Are there new ways to build partnerships that did not exist before COVID-19?
Questions posed during the spring will serve as a springboard for the following discussions this fall: activating physical spaces of research libraries; pursuing truth, reconciliation, and transformation; and leading through disruption and change. The ARL Leadership and Career Development Program Fellows will lead the third program and be acknowledged for the completion of their program.
All times listed are in eastern daylight time (EDT).
Unless otherwise noted, sessions are open to ARL member representatives and specified proxies, Association Committee members, invited guests, and invited members of the press.
Tuesday, September 28
Association Committees
2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Meeting
Zoom 3
(open to ARL member representatives and specified proxies, Association Committee members, and invited guests)
Wednesday, September 29
Association Committees
12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. Advocacy and Public Policy Committee Meeting
Zoom 3
(open to ARL member representatives and specified proxies, Association Committee members, and invited guests)
3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. Research and Analytics Committee Meeting
Zoom 3
(open to ARL member representatives and specified proxies, Association Committee members, and invited guests)
4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. Member Engagement and Outreach Committee Meeting
Zoom 3
(open to ARL member representatives and specified proxies, Association Committee members, and invited guests)
Thursday, September 30
Association Committees
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Program Strategy Committee Meeting
Zoom 3
(open to members of the Program Strategy Committee)
1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. ARL Academy Advisory Committee Meeting
Zoom 3
(open to ARL member representatives and specified proxies, Association Committee members, and invited guests)
4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. Scholars and Scholarship Committee Meeting
Zoom 3
(open to ARL member representatives and specified proxies, Association Committee members, and invited guests)
Friday, October 1
1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m. Executive Committee Meeting
Zoom 1
(open to members of the Executive Committee)
Monday, October 4
1:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. ARL Board of Directors Meeting I
Zoom 1 and
Dupont Circle Hotel
1500 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
(open to ARL member representatives and specified proxies)
Tuesday, October 5
12:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. ARL Business Meeting
Zoom 3
(open to ARL member representatives and specified proxies)
Wednesday, October 6
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ARL Board of Directors Meeting II
Zoom 1
(open to ARL member representatives and specified proxies)
12:30 p.m.–12:45 p.m. President’s Welcome and Introductions
Zoom 3
John Culshaw, Jack B. King University Librarian, The University of Iowa
12:45 p.m.–12:50 p.m. Introduction of Program—The Big Pivot
Claire Stewart, Dean of University Libraries, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
12:50 p.m.–2:00 p.m. Library as Place
Zoom 3
As we plan for a post-COVID world, what roles do and should library buildings play? Prior to the pandemic, libraries accentuated “Library as place” and the role that space played enriching the students’ college experience. Millions of dollars were invested on new buildings and renovations that emphasized library spaces for technology, collaboration, quiet study, teaching, and even dining. The pandemic and the switch to remote learning resulted in completely empty buildings for many libraries, or spaces that were limited in use. Collaborative spaces and most technology-rich spaces went unused or were underutilized. As we return to campus and our buildings are open in full or in part, what will the role of the physical library be? Will it, after a year or so, return to the pre-pandemic library as the campus living room, or will we need to rethink our spaces to provide more hybrid opportunities for students to engage with other students, with faculty, and as on-campus but virtual participants in a class? Is “Library as place” still important to students and the campus community? Will “social presence” with the library be limited to our virtual services, or will social presence and physical presence be commingled in our physical spaces?
Moderator:
Joan K. Lippincott, Associate Executive Director Emerita of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI)
Speakers:
Justin Garrett Moore,Program Officer, Humanities in Place, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Slideshow Presentation
Shrey Majmudar, Senior at Duke University and Duke Student Government’s Chief of Staff, Slideshow Presentation
Kornelia Tancheva, The Hillman University Librarian and Director, University of Pittsburgh, Slideshow Presentation
2:00 p.m.–2:15 p.m. Break
2:15 p.m.–3:15 p.m. Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation in the US and Canada
Zoom 3
For this program, academic Indigenous leaders will ground their discussion of the imperative to engage facts and history with recognition that we need to broaden our own ways of knowing and thinking about the issues in order to meet our aspirations. The discussion will start from the distinctively Canadian approach to these issues and pursue the implications for all ARL institutions.
The Canadian and American past challenges us today in many ways. Universities dedicated to creation and transmission of knowledge need to be more inclusive in their embrace particularly of Indigenous ways of knowing. The history is only too clear but needs attention. ARL has announced its support for the Creation of a US Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation to “acknowledge and heal centuries of pervasive discriminatory US government actions against people of color.”
Please Note: In a virtual session scheduled for October 13 at 1:00 p.m. EDT, ARL members will hear from leaders of the US Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation movement and their envisioned framework for Archives of Racial and Cultural Healing.
Participants of this session and the upcoming program on October 13 may also wish to consult the following:
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada final report summary
- Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) Truth and Reconciliation Report and Recommendations
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Moderator:
Joy Kirchner, Dean of Libraries, York University
Speakers:
Bryan Brayboy, President’s Professor, School of Social Transformation and director of the Center for Indian Education, Arizona State University
Sheila Cote-Meek, Vice-President, Equity, People and Culture, York University
3:15 p.m.–3:30 p.m. Break
3:30 p.m.–4:45 p.m. Transformation in This Time of Disruption
Zoom 3
University libraries’ response to the pandemic in 2020–2021 has demonstrated remarkable focus, commitment to purpose, and drive towards access and continuity of mission. Although the responses have been far from perfect and the challenges are not yet fully behind us, what have we learned about resilience and our ability to focus to achieve the previously unthinkable? As leaders, we hope this experience will lead to transformation and opportunity to deliver services in better ways. As we consider changes we can make in this moment, what do our rising leaders have to say about how we might face this transformational moment?
ARL’s Leadership and Career Development Program (LCDP) prepares mid-career librarians to take on leadership roles in their careers and in the profession. This year’s cohort moved through a unique experience informed by the disruption and trials of this past year. In addition to learning about leadership in a time of crisis, this year’s cohort had the opportunity to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. Several also undertook research projects, which informed questions resonant in our time. In this session, we will hear from LCDP Fellows on these questions and other topics.
In preparation for this session, please review this reading, WOC + LIB’s “Statement against White Appropriation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color’s Labor.” As an outcome of this session, you are invited as current leaders to identify one actionable takeaway and one way you can cede or share your power to make actionable change for rising leaders.
Moderator:
Mark A. Puente, Associate Dean for Organizational Development, Inclusion, and Diversity, Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies
Speakers:
Members of the 2020–2021 Leadership and Career Development Fellows Cohort
4:45 p.m.–5:00 p.m. Wrap-up/President’s Transition
Zoom 3
John Culshaw, Jack B. King University Librarian, The University of Iowa
5:00 p.m. Adjourn
Fall 2021 Association Meeting landing page »
