Program Planning

Core Call for 2021 ALA Annual Program Proposals

| Chrishelle Thomas

Submit an ALA 2021 Annual Conference program proposal for ALA’s newest division, Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures, which will begin on September 1, 2020.

Proposals are due September 30, 2020, and you don’t need to be a Core member to submit a proposal.

Submit your idea using this proposal form.

Core welcomes topics of interest to a wide range of library professionals in many different areas, including…

1. Access and Equity

  • Advocacy in areas such as copyright, equity of access, open access, net neutrality, and privacy
  • Preservation Week
  • Equity, diversity, and inclusion, both within the division and the profession, as related to Core’s subject areas

2. Assessment

  • Emphasizing the role of assessment in demonstrating the impacts of libraries or library services
  • Assessment tools, methods, guidelines, standards, and policies and procedures

3. Leadership and Management

  • Developing leaders at every level
  • Best practices for inclusion by using an equity lens to examine leadership structures
  • Leadership for talent management and human resources

4. Metadata and Collections

  • Best practices and knowledge in work areas that support collections and discovery
  • Best practices for equity, diversity, and inclusion in the development and description of collections
  • Standards and best practices for selection, acquisition, description, access, and preservation of information resources
  • Preservation of both print, media, and digital resources

5. Operations and Buildings

  • Changing trends in organizational structures, services, staff operations, and facilities
  • Best practices for inclusive practices and design

6. Technology

  • Best practices for inclusive practices and design
  • Emerging technologies and actionable plans for library services
  • Bridging the technology related needs across all types of libraries and operational areas

Submission Process

  • To propose an event, please submit an online proposal using the ALA Program Proposal Submission Site.
  • Log into the ALA system or create a new user account to begin your online proposal.
    • When completing the proposal, be sure to select the Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures to have your proposal reviewed by Core.
  • A program is a one-hour educational sessions held at the ALA Annual Conference. A program is audio recorded.
  • Anyone can submit a proposal regardless of membership status.
  • Submission Deadline: September 30, 2020
  • Proposals will be reviewed by the Core Program Committee and proposal submitters will be contacted in October.
  • Final decisions will be announced by early December 2020.

We seek and encourage submissions from underrepresented groups such as women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and people with disabilities.

For all inquiries regarding content submission for the 2021 ALA Annual Conference, please visit the Submission Site.

For further information, including updates, you can also visit the 2021 ALA Annual Conference website, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

If you have any questions about submitting a proposal for Core, please contact Tom Ferren, Future Core Program Officer for Professional Development, at tferren@ala.org.

Registration for the 2021 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition opens at 12 p.m. CT on Friday, January 15, 2021.