2016 ALA Annual Conference Must-Dos

2016 ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida

Interact with thousands of the most motivated, committed, and imaginative people in the field. Make great connections, choose among hundreds of learning opportunities, and get the latest on products, services, technologies, and new titles. It’s all awaiting you in Orlando!

Use the Preliminary Program to start planning how you’ll be “transforming our libraries, ourselves” at the 2016 ALA Conference and Exhibition.

Focus on the future

Join ALA’s Center for the Future of Libraries for Library of the Future sessions examining trends in the neuroscience of attention in education (Steelcase), the use of feasibility studies for designing new spaces (OPN Architects), and more.

Some conference content and activities will again be organized around the Libraries Transform campaign. Information about how you and your library can get involved—as well as opportunities to have some fun with it—will be available at the ALA Lounge.

Get connected, stay informed

The ALA Annual Conference Scheduler helps you browse sessions, plan and organize your time, create a private or shareable calendar, add and update events and personal appointments, and keep track of exhibitor meetings. Look for the mobile app coming later in May.

Visit the 2016 Annual Conference and Exhibition website
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Orlando fun facts

At 290,000 square feet, Orlando Public Library is one of the largest public library buildings in Florida.
Jack Kerouac wrote The Dharma Bums while living with his mother in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood.
There are more than 5,300 restaurants in the Orlando area.
Disney World covers 43 square miles—roughly the size of the city of San Francisco.
When Rollins College—the oldest college in Florida—was founded in 1885, its library collection consisted of a Bible and a dictionary.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are critical to a strong future for libraries. Check the list of related recommendations from the Committee on Diversity.

Speakers who inspire

Michael Eric Dyson, one of Essence magazine’s 50 most inspiring African Americans, opens the conference as featured speaker at the Opening General Session (June 24). ALA President Sari Feldman welcomes actress and outspoken immigration reform advocate Diane Guerrero to the President’s Program (June 26). Award-winning actress and bestselling children’s author Jamie Lee Curtis will close the conference after Feldman passes the gavel to 2016–2017 ALA President Julie Todaro and introduces the new ALA division presidents at the Closing General Session (June 27).

Auditorium speakers include: Margaret Atwood, award-winning author and current vice president of PEN International; Jazz Jennings, transgender teen activist and one of the youngest and most prominent voices on gender identity; Brad Meltzer, bestselling author of nonfiction, suspense, children’s books, comic books, creator of TV shows, and Honorary Chair of ALA’s Preservation Week 2016; Holly Robinson Peete—actress, author, talk show host, activist, and philanthropist—along with her 18-year-old twins Ryan Elizabeth and RJ, exploring funny, painful, and unexpected aspects of teen autism; and Maya Penn, teen entrepreneur and activist whose TEDWomen talk has been viewed more than 1 million times.

ALA divisions and their presidents invite all attendees to see thought-provoking speakers at the Division Presidents’ Programs. As of press time, 2016 speakers include: Michael R. Nelson, who works on internet-related global public policy issues for CloudFlare and Big Data changes and related technology issues (ALCTS); Marty Sklar, former president of Walt Disney Imagineering, with a panel on the intersections of child development, architecture, and stories (ALSC); Safiya Noble, from the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, on culture and technology in the design and use of internet applications (LITA); and Dave Cobb, an expert on designing immersive educational experiences with Thinkwell Group, on how to create an effective “guest experience” in your library (RUSA). Click here for additions and updates.

US Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) will make a special appearance with his award-winning graphic novel series March, alongside co-creators Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the National Endowment for the Humanities (June 25).

In the exhibit hall

Allow plenty of time to explore solutions to pressing issues at your library, network with colleagues, connect with your vendors, browse new products and services, discover the hottest titles, meet dozens of authors, and enjoy live events. The exhibit hall will include Poster Sessions, Book Buzz Theater, Meet the Authors, PopTop Stage, Graphic Novel/Gaming Stage, What’s Cooking @ ALA Demonstration Stage, Artist Alley, and specialty areas such as the Mobile App, Zine, and Diversity pavilions.

Continue the conversation

Attend peer-led Ignite Sessions and Conversation Starters (June 25–27) and keep up with Washington Office Updates throughout the conference. Rich Harwood and three public libraries that participated in ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative will show how libraries can engage communities and lead change by “turning outward” (June 25). Join Debra Fine at the PR Forum (June 26) to learn how to turn every interaction into an opportunity for a successful library relationship, and visit the ALA JobLIST Placement and Career Development Center (June 25–26) for guidance, workshops, and résumé review.

Ticketed events

Get your tickets for preconferences, award celebrations, the International Librarians’ Reception, the Gala Author Tea, local tours, and the Inaugural Brunch.

Latest Library Links

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Year-end “best of” lists are a common phenomenon, and many libraries have created lists of staff or patron picks of their favorite reads of the year. See staff picks from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Seattle Public Library, Kent (Mich.) District Library, Los Angeles Public Library, New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, Farmington (Conn.) Libraries, and King County (Wash.) Library System. Seattle Public Library and Kent (Mich.) District Library have also released lists of patron favorites

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Dec. 11; Seattle Public Library; Kent (Mich.) District Library, Nov. 20, Dec. 13; Los Angeles Public Library, Dec. 16; New York Public Library, Nov. 26; Chicago Public Library, Nov. 18; Farmington (Conn.) Libraries, Dec. 6; King County (Wash.) Library System; Seattle Times, Dec. 17
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The Library of Congress announced 25 additions to the National Film Registry December 17. The new selections date back nearly 130 years and include a diverse group of films, filmmakers, and Hollywood landmarks. The selections range from Annabelle Serpentine Dance, a silent film created to entice audiences at the dawn of cinema in 1895 to the 2010 film The Social Network. Films are selected for their cultural, historic, or aesthetic importance, and this year’s selections bring the number of films in the registry to 900.

Library of Congress, Dec. 17
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Douglas Soule writes: “To support some of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ most prominent and controversial K–12 education laws, Florida has agreed to spend millions of dollars on a service it says is a tool for transparency. But free expression advocates warn it could be a vehicle for censorship. In a contract signed this September, the Florida Department of Education agreed to pay up to $15.6 million over four years to Maryland-based education technology company Trinity Education Group. The company has been tapped to develop a ‘statewide, centralized, easily accessible’ system for people to review and even object to instructional materials and library books in Florida school districts.”

Tallahassee Democrat, Dec. 12
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Olivia Olander and Jeremy Gorner write: “Starting this year, public libraries in Illinois had a choice: Adopt principles against book banning or give up state grants. [About 40] school districts, many of them in deeply conservative areas of south and central Illinois, appear to have taken the latter option. Administrators at some of those districts acknowledged being concerned about giving up any measure of control on what books are allowed on their schools’ library shelves. Some 700 school districts statewide have regularly applied for state library grant funding in the last two years.”

Chicago Tribune, Dec. 8
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Despina Gerasimidou and Maela Rakočević Uvodić write: “Displaced persons are scattered all over the world looking for the safest place for them and their families to settle and when they move to a new country are faced with legal, cultural, educational, and economic challenges, while in need of information, guidance, and support. The new IFLA Guidelines for Libraries Supporting Displaced Persons showcase how libraries can champion their core mission for universal and equitable access to information, ideas, and works of imagination, aiming at social, educational, cultural, democratic, and economic well-being.”

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, Dec. 16
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Rebecca Bryant writes: “In 2021, the University of Calgary Libraries in Alberta launched a multilingual reference chatbot by leveraging a commercial product that combines a large language model with retrieval-augmented generation technology. The chatbot is trained on the library’s own web content, including LibGuides and operating hours, and is accessed from the library’s website. Before launch, the implementation team estimated that the chatbot could answer 14%–24% of reference chat questions, but today the chatbot answers about 50% of all questions with a rating of at least 4/5.”

Hanging Together, Dec. 12
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Chase Ollis writes: “On December 16, ALA announced 10 recipients of the 2025 I Love My Librarian Award, nominated by library users for their expertise, dedication, and impact in their communities. Four academic librarians, three public librarians, and three school librarians were selected to receive the 2025 award. ALA received nearly 1,300 nominations from library users across the country. Nominations highlighted librarians’ outstanding service in expanding access to literacy and library services, outreach to their communities, and supporting the needs of the most vulnerable. Each honoree will receive a $5,000 cash prize and complimentary registration and a travel stipend to attend ALA’s LibLearnX conference in Phoenix.”

AL: The Scoop, Dec. 17