Information professionals now have an array of search tools from which to choose—many of them AI enhanced. Generative AI, especially with deep research functionality, is transforming how we locate, analyze, and present information, but there are also new and emerging dangers to watch for. Despite the promises, the flood of false, manipulated, and questionable information requires extreme vigilance on the part of searchers and those who teach about and advise on the search process. Critical thinking is becoming ever more crucial as a search skill. It’s a complex search environment with exciting opportunities, new threats, and many moving parts.

Rapid changes in search technologies call for a reset in our assumptions about, and our approach to, search from a research perspective. It's no longer only Google's algorithm changes that need watching: Competing AI tools are in a battle to win out against each other. Information professionals need to re-examine all their search instruction and search practices, so as to answer new expectations from their clients and communities. Librarians and information professionals possess a unique skill set that gives us the ability to own the search space. But equally important is our ability to pivot as circumstances change and to communicate our value to our stakeholders. This practical and interactive, full-day workshop provides the latest tips, tricks, and techniques for unlocking the “black box” of search and connecting with those in our communities.

Our search experts reveal what you need to know today to perform better and more effective searches, support research in your organization or community, analyze search results to surface value, teach others good search practices, and remain on top of search innovations. There's always something new to be learned from these leading-edge info pros. Whether you're a novice or expert searcher, you come away with a new understanding of innovations in search, new resources to share with colleagues, and more search tools for your professional toolkit.

Our experts cover topics:

What’s New in Web Search:  Learn about new developments in search engines, search bots, and search technology that affect info pros’ ability to get the best results.

Price’s Pearls:  So many resources, so little time! Our longtime expert and industry watcher shares a number of new, different, and changed resources to turbocharge your research.

Savvy Search Strategies:  With the plethora of search possibilities now available, deciding where to search, what techniques are most effective, and how to approach search queries becomes ever more complicated. Strategize your research to accommodate the new tools, technologies, and techniques for increasing sense-making.

Specialized Academic Search Tools:  GenAI search-based language models trained on freely available information may not be sufficient for academic libraries or those doing intense research. AI assistants, such Consensus, Elicit, and Scite, are popping up, as are changes in traditional library databases. Learn how to take advantage of them.

Visions and Impact:  Regardless of the type of library or organization in which you work, or if you’re an independent researcher, connecting the right information at the right time is critical. However, awareness of ethical use of AI tools, sorting fact from fiction, and convincing others of the impact of your work is imperative.

A(rtificial) I(intelligence) (AI) seems to be everywhere. On your phone. On your web search results. In your home. On your computer. On your favorite website. Everything now has AI this, AI that, but what is it really? Should you be afraid of it? Our experienced trainer breaks down the huge world of AI into non-techy, understandable chunks. He introduces you to a brief history of AI, explores the benefits and challenges of this new technology, and leads  hands-on practice using various AI tools. He discusses AI resources that value privacy and/or data security, so you and your customers feel ok about dipping your toes into the world of AI. After attending this workshop, you have the tools and terminology to explain and confidently explore the ever-evolving field of artificial intelligence. Please come with some documents, articles, and reports to use as sandbox data.

This workshop guides participants through the strategies related to retaining or replacing their core resource management systems and discovery services. Migrating to a new system represents a massive undertaking for a library as well as a substantial financial investment. Breeding discusses current issues and trends related to products and vendors as well as aligning the library's technology systems with strategic priorities and setting reasonable expectations for the benefits of a new system and the efforts involved in migration. He facilitates an interactive discussion of scenarios and topics important to participants, tapping into his research, expertise, experience, and insights.

This hands-on workshop helps leaders and trainers navigate the rapid introduction of new technologies—especially AI—into library programs and services. Participants explore strategies for building staff confidence, overcoming resistance, and turning uncertainty into curiosity. Through guided exercises and real-world examples, Tanzi demonstrates how to foster buy-in, communicate value, and create a culture of experimentation where staff and communities grow together through innovation.

Technology, as always, is changing quickly (and exponentially) and that it’s very difficult to keep up. Trends come and go, but how and where do you invest your limited time and budget? This workshop shares the best methods and strategies to meet this challenge. It looks at two roles or types of people, visionaries and implementers, and offers strategies for each type as well as best resources for keeping up, how to evaluate what you’ve learned, the importance of experimenting with new technologies, and how to plan for implementation of new technologies that meet users needs.

As AI, automation, and new digital tools transform everyday life, communities increasingly turn to libraries for guidance, confidence, and hands-on skill building. This workshop explores practical ways to plan, structure, and deliver technology training programs using resources from Tech Ready Nation. It focuses on creating clear, accessible learning pathways in areas such as AI basics, digital safety, device skills, and job-readiness tools. Through real examples and collaborative exercises, the session illustrates how to assess local needs, design training series, adapt modular curricula, and support patrons with varied skill levels. Participants explore approaches for building sustainable programs, strengthening digital equity, and integrating AI-literacy content into existing services. Leave with planning templates, outreach ideas, and a framework that helps libraries confidently guide their communities through accelerating technological change.

AI is changing every aspect of our lives, organizations and communities including human resources, finance, marketing, and operations. This workshop demonstrates how to use AI responsibly (e.g., spot bias, weigh costs, and build an AI-ready culture) to make ethical decisions and innovate. It isn't just about technology; it's about empowering people, fostering economic growth, and promoting ethical leadership, all of which are at the heart of strategic vision. It focuses on an "applied in-depth exploration" of AI that provides practical, relevant knowledge needed to succeed in the modern workforce and equip libraries for success. Learn how to apply proven AI frameworks and responsible principles, using real-world examples from marketing, finance, and operations to drive innovative and ethical business strategies.

From ransomware attacks to phishing scams and data breaches, cybersecurity threats are escalating—and libraries are not immune. This interactive workshop helps library leaders, IT staff, and administrators understand today’s most pressing digital security risks and how to protect systems, staff, and patrons. Speakers share practical frameworks for assessing vulnerabilities, building response plans, and strengthening privacy policies. Participants leave with actionable steps to secure networks, safeguard sensitive data, and promote digital trust within their communities. The session also explores how emerging technologies, including AI, are reshaping both the threat landscape and the defense strategies libraries need to adopt.

Having a skilled, effective facilitator guide a meeting or a workshop can make a world of difference to the meeting's outcomes and team's efficiency! A skilled facilitator can get a group to focus on the challenge at hand and help them make better decisions faster. They help participants to think productively and articulate critical ideas, ask vital questions, uncover variables, find solutions, and identify productive actions, NOT to solve the team's challenge. Skills to be developed include: Facilitation mindset, time management, shortcutting circular discussions, keeping energy levels high, curbing team politics and groupthink, effectively dealing with troublemakers, giving clear instructions, being ready to adapt. Join this workshop to build your skills and practice using proven techniques.

What’s your visions for the future of your library, community, or organization? Our speaker shares a new set of scenarios that offers insight into possibilities, threats and risks in ways, as we know, most of us don’t think about them.

Get a look at new automation tools, resources and updating methods for using AI tools to classify data. There are automation tools for agentic and smoother workflows to build and update LibGuides and more.

Our speaker looks at the dynamic between human and artificial intelligence, tracing the development of AI and its impact on society. She discusses society’s shift toward valuing intellect and explores institutional influences and common concerns such as job loss, ethics, and social fragmentation in an AI-driven world. Drawing parallels between myths and technology, she stresses the essential roles of human intellect, ethics, and cooperation. She views AI as a tool for progress, offers strategies to understand and adapt to AI’s complexities, and emphasizes that humans remain vital to harmonious coexistence with intelligent machines. Her metaphors and stories not only anchor understanding of humans and AI in digital intelligence today, but recognize that things like AI accuracy have always been a concern of digital intelligence and not something unique to AI. She shares insights and ideas for supporting communities in their learning and discovery as they move forward in an AI world.

AI is used in so many ways. Are we all on the same page? Our speaker shares key definitions and uses of the term AI as we head into several days of discussion and learning about using AI in our libraries and communities.

Levitz shares how the rise of GenAI requires new skills for executives, government officials, and info pros to harness the benefits; a new language and framework to provide context for future development; and how AI governance is built upon data governance, which arose to organize people to manage data records. She examines several classical approaches to organize and rationalize human thought, namely through catalogs, classification schemes, and taxonomies, and highlights how librarians are stepping into pivotal roles within the AI-driven KM space—not just as knowledge managers but as ethical custodians. Their focus on transparency, inclusivity, and information integrity makes them indispensable partners in shaping responsible AI systems. With practical examples and forward-thinking insights, this talk explores the growing intersection of librarianship, KM, and AI. Librarianship is redefining its role in the digital age, seamlessly bridging the gap between traditional KM practices and cutting-edge AI applications.

Children and teens are often eager adopters of new technology, but access doesn’t always mean understanding. As we navigate the age of AI, important questions arise: How is AI impacting our youth, and what does the future hold? More importantly, how can we, as library professionals, empower our patrons to understand and engage with this consequential technology? Get great tips and insights in this session.

In 2023, our speaker and her team embarked on a bold revisioning of its instruction program and opened the door for nontraditional teaching alongside traditional information literacy instruction. Debuting in fall 2025 to a strong response, the program continues to expand across the library. Newton outlines the foundations of the AI literacy component of the research and learning program, including ideas for online tutorials, one-shot instruction sessions, faculty workshops, and more for adoption in other contexts. Get lots of tips and ideas from our practitioner.

The AI challenge moved from chatbots (2023) to GenAI (2024), followed by extensive intellectual property violations by text-scraping large language models (2025). Now librarians confront agentive AI that decides and acts on collections and administration without consulting librarians. Helpfulness in references, personalized recommendations, and user support contrasts with downsides in ethics, bias, training costs, and intellectual development—raising this question: “Is it Beauty or Beast?” Get data, stimulate your AI thinking, and be ready for AI policies in your library.

Accessibility doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Drawing on a recent project reviewing and correcting multiple library websites, Silveira highlights common barriers and practical steps to address them, including tools for testing, simple adjustments with big impact, and strategies for building accessibility into everyday workflows. Get a practical checklist that supports a more welcoming and usable site for all.

Speakers share a case study for how to use Google's suite of updated analytics tools, including GA4, Google Tag Manager, and Looker Studio, to investigate how patrons use your web properties and how to share that information with library staff to improve access and engagement.

Our speaker shares the renovation journey and outcomes of a multiyear project at Pitt. Filled with tips and lessons learned, Wisniewski highlights student, facility, and other responses to the physical space.

Oklahoma State University Library’s online study room booking service is a highly valued and widely utilized resource, thanks in large part to the capabilities of Springshare’s LibCal room booking software. As we prepared to transition to the new Spaces platform, we gathered student feedback and discovered both strong appreciation for the service and insightful suggestions for improvement. With the introduction of the new Spaces-UI, we gained the flexibility to design a highly customized interface that integrates many of those student-driven enhancements. The result is a modernized web interface featuring a mobile-friendly and streamlined design, as well as advanced search capabilities by date, room size, and floor—features not available in the default Spaces interface. Additionally, we are making this application available for other libraries to download and tailor to their specific needs. Join us as we share our development journey and demonstrate how these enhancements can elevate your library’s user experience.

AI can seem like a double-edged sword: cutting-edge technology that can slash workload but risks accuracy and quality if misused. Viewed as a tool to aid the creative process rather than a full solution, AI can be especially helpful in promotional efforts. King explores a variety of AI tools that support library marketing, from enhancing content creation to streamlining social media strategies.

Hear from our technology library trends speaker as he reviews the data he collects from thousands of libraries and how the technology landscape of library technology is evolving.

Cervone provides a concise look at how libraries are balancing on-prem systems with new, cloud-based services. This session explores migration strategies, cybersecurity considerations, and performance improvements that ensure reliable, scalable digital infrastructure for the future.

Across the country, librarians are quietly on the front lines of digital confusion. Studies by ALA and the University of Washington show librarians regularly help patrons untangle misinformation, online scams, and privacy questions, yet most digital-literacy programs still stop at "Don't click suspicious links." Noz reframes that challenge through the lens of open source intelligence (OSINT) and narrative learning. Drawing from DSD, a project translating cybersecurity into plain English, she shares how real-world stories, from fake job postings to data-leaking apps, can turn fear into curiosity and teach verification skills in any library setting. Learn how to transform everyday scam headlines into teachable, hands-on exercises that build trust and digital confidence. Instead of warning people about what not to do online, guide them to investigate, question, and verify, as librarians have always done, just in a new terrain.

Discover how automation can simplify your library’s routine operations. Sweet demonstrates practical workflows and tools to streamline updates, reporting, and data management, helping libraries save time and boost efficiency.

This session clarifies what today’s AI tools can realistically do for academic libraries. Drawing on three years of hands-on development—training models, customizing APIs, and refining NLP techniques—our speaker distills what truly works in daily library workflows. Learn practical applications, effective training approaches, and repeatable processes that help librarians understand, adopt, and sustainably integrate AI into academic library services.

To serve a dynamic population, this district develops innovative services and partnerships that educate, train, and support communities in multiple ways—earning it three consecutive ALA Library of the Future Awards. As librarians, we are all experiencing seismic change, increased need, yet exciting possibilities are on the horizon. This is a remarkable time to be leaders in the library industry, especially with the advent of AI already affecting how we approach both challenges and opportunities. Sharing experiences and new ideas with each other will help us move forward to keep our libraries strong, well-funded, free, and at the heart of our communities. Be inspired and get ideas from our creative library leader who continues to engage his communities.

As libraries adapt to new technologies and shifting expectations, the people at the heart of the mission must remain central. A person-centered approach to customer service prioritizes the needs of users, community members, and library employees, centering empathy, communication, and trust. Practical ways to translate values into daily interactions, service design, and organizational culture show how small, intentional shifts transform routine transactions into meaningful connections.

Mairn invites you to explore a new wave of AI tools: creative generators, analytical assistants, emerging agentic systems, and generative Is that turn prompts into interactive experiences. We’ll experiment with these tools, consider their strengths and limits, and discuss practical, ethical ways to bring them into library workflows and community services. You’ll leave with clear strategies, real examples, and a stronger sense of how thoughtful experimentation can help libraries lead with innovation and responsibility.

The continuing evolution of social media influences library outreach and engagement strategies. King discusses trends and platform updates across major channels with insights into effective content strategies and best practices tailored for each platform, covering optimization, engaging content, and approaches that resonate with diverse audiences. Get new ideas for engaging your community with the latest social media apps.

Media sources across disciplines and audiences are reporting troubling practices that are increasingly prevalent in library landscapes. Lasda discusses the startling rise in research fraud and the evolving trends in fraudulent scientific activities, practical strategies for librarians and info pros to identify spurious publications and findings, and how to educate users about these alarming trends facing the global research enterprise. She shares tips on major forms of misconduct in scholarly communication, the rising impact of AI on scholarly research practices; essential tools and approaches available to libraries for recognizing red flags in publications and metric data; ethical dimensions and pragmatic concerns of leveraging AI for fraud detection; and the importance of solid data stewardship, audit protocols, and transparency at all stages of research. Get actionable strategies and resources to strengthen your ability to identify potentially fraudulent research publications.

For years, library staff have fulfilled the role of technology instructors within their communities. However, in an era of swift transformations, this responsibility comes with its fair share of challenges. What skills are necessary to thrive in this environment? How do we overcome staff resistance as we integrate emerging technologies into our programs and services? Tanzi discusses the strategies for effectively (and efficiently) training staff, securing the support of library stakeholders, and building tech-forward organizations.

Building on a conversation about IMLS at Internet Librarian Connect and the future of community library support, this session highlights new approaches for advocacy, storytelling, and collaboration. Leaders outline actionable steps to connect with funders, foundations, and community partners through transparency, metrics, and aligned goals that demonstrate libraries’ essential roles in civic life.

Understanding funder priorities is key to sustaining innovation. This session focuses on translating library outcomes into the language of finance and impact—ROI, community value, and measurable success. Speakers share strategies to communicate effectively with boards, donors, and civic partners, turning data and stories into compelling cases for continued investment.

Resilient teams drive innovation even in uncertainty. This session examines how leaders can cultivate adaptability, psychological safety, and shared purpose across departments. Through real-world examples, explore how continuous feedback and small, consistent improvements help organizations navigate disruption with confidence.

We all recognize that critical thinking is an essential skill for the future, but what impact is AI having on the development of these skills? How much do students and our communities delegate to AI? Research has shown that offloading thinking and analysis to AI can lead to a drop in neural activity that is associated with critical thinking as well as a reduced capacity for complex problem-solving. But it can also be a tool for deeper learning. There are findings indicating that when used to aid in brainstorming, research, or drafting, AI can free up time for higher-order thinking tasks; however, when used to generate final products, AI stifles creativity and intellectual growth. In an age of AI, everyone must develop critical AI literacy, including an understanding of how AI works, recognizing its inherent biases, and learning to question and verify AI-generated content. This is crucial for navigating a media landscape where disinformation can be created and spread with unprecedented speed and sophistication. Berkman discusses the latest research and provides tips on how to enhance the love of learning in our library communities.

With a focus on understanding the nature of how people use large and complex collections of information in useful ways to create an attractive, comprehensible, evocative user experience of that information, Russell shares tips on the design of information experience; sensemaking; intelligent agents; knowledge-based assistance; information visualization; multimedia documents; advanced design and development environments; design rationale; planning; intelligent tutoring; hypermedia; and human/computer interfaces. At Google, he developed a practice as a search anthropologist—someone who tries to understand how people search, what kinds of things they seek, and how their tools influence their search process. Since then, he looks more at how people understand AI systems and tools more generally. Hear his thoughts for the future.

In summer 2024, librarians at a liberal arts college created the CARE Framework to guide AI curriculum integration and deepen faculty–student dialogue. The framework emphasizes four habits of mind—contextualize, approach with resilience, read critically, and experience research realities—and grounds technology use in human cognition and agency. Teaching strategies and outreach initiatives support mindful, resilient, and critical relationships with AI while recognizing lived experiences and discerning misinformation. Get lots of ideas for including the human with emerging tech.

AI is rapidly reshaping higher education, yet little attention is given to how students actually use these tools or view their role in learning. Our first two speakers share findings from a community college study examining which AI tools students use and their perceptions of the benefits and risks. The results underscore the need for libraries to lead AI literacy efforts within information literacy programs—helping students cultivate critical inquiry, evaluation, and ethical decision making. Knapp highlights Olin College’s interactive workshops that teach practical AI and information literacy skills for engineering students. Get strategies and ideas to strengthen AI literacy within your own community.

In the heartland of the U.S., the saga continues. Piloting three AI "research assistant" tools simultaneously is a study in constant communication, misunderstandings, and false starts. Discerning—as is the Jesuit way—that we would always be trailing the changes in GenAI, the Creighton University Libraries reaffirmed cross-campus partnerships, designed and supported faculty development, created asynchronous learning opportunities, and promoted the adoption of two AI-specific learning outcomes across the core curriculum. In addition, a team of librarians created and made publicly available an AI tool evaluation instrument, which incorporates an ethical framework based on the Jesuit values. Our speaker shares updates, the data/feedback collected, teaching strategies, and how centering the library as a hub for human/AI collaboration brings a campus closer together. She demonstrates the tools and provides insights for use with your communities.

Creating effective prompts for GenAI chatbots to query language models and produce good responses is rapidly becoming a necessary skill for librarians. As we enter a new era where we could take on the new, probably unofficial, title of AI Whisperer, the opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences transcends any textbook knowledge that might exist. This Prompt Slam starts with an overview of prompt engineering methodologies. Then the fun begins. Using actual reference and research questions, information professional teams create their own prompts, discuss why they chose that prompt, and test it out on some popular AI search tools. Join this exciting, interactive session to experiment, collaborate, and enjoy the uncharted areas of prompt engineering. There might be prizes!

GenAI is changing what non-developers can build. Beginning as an advanced WordPress power user, Glover used ChatGPT to create customized conference management tools—presenter intake, scheduling, check-in, exports, and PayPal integration—after off-the-shelf options fell short, replacing a costly vendor system. The path from identifying needs to maintaining custom plugins highlights scope, guardrails, time-value trade-offs, communication nuances, errors, debugging, and reliable fit and control.

More than 800 million people use ChatGPT each week, according to its maker, OpenAI. We are learning more all the time about the ways people turn to bots and agents for all kinds of information and advice. Rainie’s research has explored the exploding new dimensions of the information and news ecosystem and its impact on users—especially when it affects human interactions, social and institutional trust, civic activity, and emotional well-being. He describes the latest research and what it means for libraries.

Search in libraries has a long history. But what of the future? Search technologies and library user expectations are changing rapidly, yet libraries still license traditional databases that require a different approach by searchers. It’s confusing. The role of librarians as intermediaries, doing searches for others, has faded in most types of libraries. Despite that, information professionals must remain up-to-date and have hands-on experience with everything that affects search as their role as instructors, coaches, and advisors remains and strengthens. Search is not monolithic; it has many aspects. The future of search is very likely to become even more fractured, presenting even more opportunities and threats for information professionals. This librarian panel, both those experienced and new to the field, discusses their view of where search is headed in the library context.

Are you the intelligence officer for your organization, academic campus, or community? A searcher or researcher who wants to keep up-to-date? Find out how to do your job from our popular and knowledgeable speaker. Each day, Price curates thousands of news items and reports to publish online briefs that thousands of people depend upon for reliable, usable information. He shares the latest tools and techniques he uses to build timely collections and gives you a road map to build your own! In addition, he shares cool tools you will want to try, no matter where you practice your info pro skills!

Our speaker shares the latest in the fast-changing landscape of AI and the internet. He discusses then new kids on the block—Dia, Atlas, and Comet—as well as the updated Edge and Chrome for Gemini subscribers and Opera's Neon. Using AI to find something is definitely changing, and Weiss highlights the most recent happenings.

Google searches bring many new people to libraries, both organically and through advertisement. With its introduction of AI Overviews, Google has changed its basic service, pushing links to original sources further down its search result pages. It has also introduced more AI to its advertising platform, Google Ads, fragmenting a number of traditional advertising concepts. Velikonjan discusses these changes and how librarians have adapted in their work of bringing people to library websites. He also reviews organic search results with Google Search Console and shares his hands-on experience with SEO.

The popularity of the Summer Reading Challenge grew so significantly at the Grand Rapids PL that it broke the patchwork of tools used to administer the program. Using simple tools in Google Workspace, the library developed a robust, cost-effective solution for registering participants, tracking progress, collecting and cleaning data, and gathering feedback. Listening to diverse stakeholders, iterative development, and constant improvement produced a mature solution that made everyone’s life easier. Get tips to use in your library. As part of Libraries of Things, many tools are shared in the community. Over the last few years, "smart telescopes" have become increasingly popular in the world of amateur astronomy, making low-cost high-quality astronomical imaging available to newcomers and established hobbyists alike. Pardue discusses his library's decision to purchase several SeeStar S50 smart telescopes for both programming and public lending. Get an overview of various other brands and price points, as well as inspiring photos!

Textbook cost and shifting access points challenge student success; academic libraries respond with lending and OER support. Hear how one university pursued a grant-funded proof-of-concept for an open source integrated course materials platform. Our speakers discuss campus and publishing landscapes, interviews that informed design and functionality, and lessons that shaped next phases. Their talk defines elements of a proof-of-concept, recognizes its value in textbook access and other domains, and offers a basis for developing new technology projects.

Get a new take on developing strategies using a very practical technique to develop a library or organizational strategy, which yields a work plan very different from what most of us call a strategic plan. Rasmus shares his road map, gives some scenarios, and more.

Our speakers implemented a digital kiosk to improve access to services, promotion and outreach, as well as wayfinding inside the building and to external campus locations. This case study traces the identification of need, collaboration with campus partners, concept-to-deployment work, sustainability considerations, and measured impact. Lots of ideas to try in your library or community.

Library leaders and technologists share practical strategies for introducing emerging tools—from AI to automation to immersive tech—to staff with varying comfort levels. Panelists discuss onboarding methods, change management techniques, and training models that balance curiosity with caution. Hear examples of what worked, what didn’t, and how to build a culture where experimentation and learning thrive.

Supporting communities and aligning with regional, enterprise, or academic priorities can spark new engagement. Get strategies, ideas and more for community actions, both successes and mistakes, to illustrate approaches that can make a big splash and translate into actionable ideas in local contexts.

Community colleges operate as extensions of high school, pathways to universities, and hubs for workforce training, which serve nontraditional learners with varied skills, schedules, and needs. Libraries support working parents, dual-enrollment and first-generation students, English language learners, veterans, and returning adults while navigating budgets vulnerable to economic and political shifts. A panel of library folks showcases innovations in collections, lifelong learning, and digital/media literacy, actions they use for outreach tailored to diverse users, and strategies to advocate for resilient, sustainable programs. Get lots of actionable practices to apply in your community.

From card-catalog requests 50 years ago to helping with online applications today, the guiding principle remains: “I can help you with that.” A staff culture of looking for ways to say yes using public computers, in-house Chromebooks, hotspots, and hands-on assistance demonstrates policies, funding, and attitudes that make it happen. Our speaker shares practical guidance and illustrates how to build responsive service in any community. Pick up great tips for engaging your community and focusing on customer service.

Digital skills are infused in every facet of life, from financial literacy to parenting and job skills. While hundreds of initiatives exist to help, resources are scattered to the winds, causing organizations to either lose opportunities or waste resources reinventing the wheel. Sweet discusses the Tech Ready Nation platform, which serves as a discovery layer, making it easier to access and compare courses, lesson plans, handouts, and various resources to find what works best for us and our communities. Paired with Digital Navigator training and service design support, the platform is designed to provide direct patron access to high-quality resources, or accelerate the design of library services, expanding the impact of the library on the community. Like everything else nowadays, AI and automation tools help keep resources updated and speed up the design of library services. In times of constricting budgets, where every library is trying to do more with less, learn how to leverage the free and low-cost resources of Tech Ready Nation to help your library survive and thrive in trying times. Sweet started Tech Ready Nation as a tech librarian for the state of Nebraska; now she's syncing up with other states to meet a growing need. Get insights and ideas from her development and output.

Access to technology has become essential for student success, yet many still face barriers due to the digital divide. Humphries examines how fines and fees for technology loans in academic libraries can widen disparities for low-income students. The discussion highlights strategies to mitigate these impacts, alternative policy approaches, and ideas for ensuring equitable access to technology. Key points include the scope of the digital divide in higher ed, the effects of financial penalties on learning, and the intersection of economic constraints with other forms of marginalization.

Communicating vision effectively is central to leadership success. This session offers practical strategies for framing ideas, sharing outcomes, and influencing decision makers through clear, compelling storytelling that demonstrates value and impact.

Our library suppliers are helping libraries innovate and engage their communities. Hear client stories of successful community leadership using new and exciting technologies.

Influencing skills are critical to getting things done. And getting out of the library to build bridges and relationships with partners and stakeholders is also important in supporting libraries and their communities. But it also means being persuasive and strategic when it comes to those relationships. Get techniques and practice them in this interactive and fun session.

What separates good managers from great leaders? Speakers explore the instincts, courage, and creativity that define transformative leadership in libraries. Using humor and real-world examples, they challenge attendees to reflect on their leadership style and the “royal jelly” that keeps teams inspired through uncertainty. Drawing from experience guiding large-scale change, They illustrate how strategic focus and people-centered leadership can propel organizations toward innovation and resilience. Speakers also discuss developing and finding next-gen leaders for their communities.

What separates good managers from great leaders? Speakers explore the instincts, courage, and creativity that define transformative leadership in libraries. Using humor and real-world examples, they challenge attendees to reflect on their leadership style and the “royal jelly” that keeps teams inspired through uncertainty. Drawing from experience guiding large-scale change, They illustrate how strategic focus and people-centered leadership can propel organizations toward innovation and resilience. Speakers also discuss developing and finding next-gen leaders for their communities.

Get your brain in a different space after a busy day of learning sessions. Join colleagues for a creative session that bridges tactile making and digital production—think trading-card style content, interactive installations, and hybrid media designed for libraries. Inspired by the Giant Room’s playful approach, experiment with hands-on tools and digital workflows to generate shareable content, program ideas, and new ways to engage and inspire your community across platforms.

Our knowledgeable and engaging speaker is a leader in the field of misinformation, verification, and user-generated content and co-author of the foundational report, "Information Disorder: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policymaking" for the Council of Europe in 2017. Wardle discusses the current information landscape and today's hot topics. She looks at the disconnect between evidence-based experts and "do your own research" trends, which can be amplified by AI tools. She suggests strategies for effective online communication and community engagement. With increasing levels of distrust, she shares lessons we can learn from online influencers and participatory disinformation communities and how we discern what is true and false and provides some theories and frameworks to help situate us as we adapt to our new AI-powered realities. She is full of insights for librarians and information professionals.

As libraries integrate AI tools into workflows and services, effective communication with these systems becomes essential. This session demystifies two prompting techniques—agent frameworks and persona building—that significantly improve AI outputs for library-specific tasks. Wilson explains the difference between basic prompts and agent-based instructions, showing how assigning AI a role (cataloger, reference librarian, youth services specialist) produces more contextually appropriate and professionally nuanced responses. Real-world library scenarios demonstrate how persona prompting enhances collection development descriptions, program marketing, policy drafting, and technical documentation.

Agentic AI promises to upend workplaces, including libraries, by granting AI agents autonomy and reasoning power to make decisions and perform tasks for humans. Questions remain about how well they can handle collection development, research questions, or patron complaints. Drawing on GenAI and intelligent agents, agentic AI represents a new competency for librarians, one worth careful examination to ensure it serves the best interests of clients and the profession. Ojala shares scenarios that illustrate how agents might mirror librarian behavior in various aspects of library work, raising this question: Is agentic AI a fast car driving us forward, or a train wreck waiting to happen?

The perception of truth is being altered by AI-generated deepfakes. Once taken at face value, photos and videos can now be shockingly and realistically altered to spread false information, encourage harassment, and erode trust. This poses a pressing question for librarians: How can we teach our communities to evaluate visuals critically when what they perceive might be misleading? By emphasizing the crucial role librarians play in teaching digital skepticism, Peter reframes visual literacy for the AI era. Using cues such as context, credibility signals, and visual inconsistencies, she shares techniques for assisting students and community members in identifying manipulated visuals. She offers useful teaching exercises, discussion starters, and evaluation concepts that combine information literacy and visual literacy, Deepfakes mostly target underrepresented groups, which makes this work essential for fairness and inclusion. Librarians can help people from all walks of life use visual information in a responsible and critical way by teaching them how to spot and avoid misleading media.

Our forward-thinking panel will share their perspectives on the evolving world of AI, including the roles and the opportunities librarians play in this discussion.

At the intersection of academic tradition and technological advancement, Howard University has launched a transformative initiative to establish its first institutional repository. More than a digital archive, this project strategically elevates HBCU scholarship to the global stage while safeguarding the intellectual contributions of underrepresented communities. Speakers candidly discuss technical challenges such as metadata complexities, system integration, sustainability, and accessibility and share how they were addressed with creativity, collaboration, and cultural sensitivity. Beyond infrastructure, the repository is positioned as a catalyst for scholarly collaboration, community outreach, and the digital preservation of the university’s distinguished academic and cultural heritage.

In early 2025, a rapid metadata cleanup of an FDIC.gov archive originally launched in 2020 accelerated into a 2-month project with a 2-week final revision window. Agility, evolving requirements, tight feedback loops, sprint-based work, and living technical documentation supported revisions, with cleanup and quality control balancing supervisor input and team feedback. A key hurdle—clear, meaningful titles and descriptions for complex government documents—anchors practical insights into agile project management, documentation, and team coordination.

This session explores the growing threat of fraudulent scholarly research, from falsified data and ghost authorship to citation manipulation and AI-generated content. With mounting pressure to publish and the rise of paper mills and predatory journals, bad science is infiltrating even reputable platforms. GenAI has accelerated the problem, enabling the creation of convincing but entirely fabricated articles. Attendees learn to spot red flags—like inconsistent metadata, unusual citation patterns, and signs of algorithmic generation—and understand the systemic drivers behind scholarly fraud. The session highlights tools and strategies for librarians and information professionals to detect and prevent fraud, promote ethical research, and educate users. With real-world examples and practical guidance, this session is a call to rethink information literacy and equip communities to navigate a scholarly ecosystem increasingly shaped by bots, bias, and deception.

AI and GenAI promise transformation, yet integrating these tools into research workflows remains a challenge. Applied Materials implemented a GenAI research assistant in an engineering library at a highly technical multinational company, leveraging full-text academic papers to provide trustworthy answers to detailed technical questions from research engineers. Coverage includes decision making, data licensing, selecting and structuring data, cross-department collaboration, protecting intellectual property, marketing, and training—offering lessons and practical insights for near-term or future GenAI projects.

With many governmental and institutional reorganizations and changes, records management, archives, and library groups are all challenged with stabilization and forward thinking to retain their history and knowledge, preserving artifacts and content for future learning and discovery. Our speaker discusses strategies, challenges, and opportunities. Get ideas for preserving and sharing content with your community.

Dinosaurs, kimonos, and the Great Barrier Reef—these are just a few new and exciting experiences EPL members are enjoying as a result of partnerships and technology. Get insights and be inspired to find new ways of turning archives and old records into vibrant community assets.

New tools and methods allow organizations and libraries to surface content in astounding ways. Hulser illustrates by feeding years of Computers in Libraries and Internet Librarian program data into a retrieval-augmented-generation (RAG) engine to reveal recurring themes, rising buzzwords, and fading fads. He outlines a straightforward workflow that turns raw conference history into insight about the evolution of ideas and activities—from early digital cataloging to today’s generative-AI debates. Key takeaways include using trend tracking to guide projects and quickly create presentation outlines that highlight the value of ongoing professional development in his example.

Libraries collect mountains of data that too often remain trapped in static spreadsheets. Hear how one library transforms complex Excel workbooks into interactive dashboards with cool tools like Qlik Cloud Data Analytics and applies ChatGPT to generate polished, executive-ready reports. Pairing visual dashboards with AI-driven narratives streamlines workflows, strengthens evidence-based decisions, and elevates how libraries communicate impact. Practical steps and workflows are shared for replication. Learn from our AI techie.

Our speakers share how to empower library staff to embrace emerging technologies and promote digital literacy. They discuss their approaches that range from hands-on workshops and makerspaces to literacy programs, along with the tools and partnerships needed to support them. Successful initiatives are showcased with best practices for creating or improving technology-focused programs, positioning libraries as essential centers of innovation and community learning.

In today’s unpredictable and chaotic environment, how should we prepare our future leaders? Should we invest in broad, anticipatory leadership development (just in case) or focus on targeted, situational training delivered at the point of need (just in time)? This dynamic debate explores the strengths and limitations of both approaches. Advocates for just-in-case training argue for the value of foundational knowledge, long-term planning, and leadership pipelines. Proponents of just-in-time training champion agility, relevance, and the power of learning in context. Join us for a lively exchange that challenges assumptions, sparks new ideas, and helps you rethink how your organization should cultivate leadership for the future.

Amidst closures, shrinking collections, and reduced staffing, federal libraries are using data to communicate their necessity and value effectively. Balestrieri presents results from a FEDLINK study in which participants shared how they collect, quantify, and disseminate data to demonstrate contributions to agency missions. Examples of tools, resources, and techniques are discussed with recommendations for best practices in federal library advocacy.

Libraries face dual challenges: adapting their roles while supporting patrons with shifting information needs. At the FDIC Library, this came to a head in 2025 during debate over whether to pause the long-standing Economic Conditions series. Despite uncertainty, user demand made continuation essential. The program delivers more than surface-level demos, providing expert analysis and meaningful engagement with data creators. Speakers describe how vendor collaboration preserved and enhanced the series, aligning content delivery with user needs. This case study highlights strategies for adapting programs in turbulent times, advocating for advanced users, and sustaining mission-critical services through proactive, vendor-supported approaches.

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPod, he didn't say, "1GB of storage"—he said, "1,000 songs in your pocket." He understood that people don't care about features; they care about transformation. Libraries face the same challenge. We say, "Access to subscription databases" when patrons need to hear, "Get answers from expert sources." We describe institutional repositories when we should be saying, "Your research, preserved forever." This interactive session shares tips on how to apply Steve Jobs' three communication principles to library services: focus on benefits not features, embrace simplicity over jargon, and tell stories instead of specifications. It includes insights from video analysis of Jobs' 2007 iPhone launch, guided exercises, and hands-on practice to shift our thinking from institution-centered to patron-centered communication. Create your own "60-second pitch" for one of your services, clearly articulating the unique added value.

Join library managers for a dynamic panel where opinions clash, consensus emerges, and your voice matters just as much as theirs. Through live polling, you weigh in on provocative statements about library leadership alongside our panelists—then watch as they react to where the audience stands. Will they double down on their positions or find common ground? Expect spirited debate, surprising alignments, and practical insights from leaders navigating the same challenges you face. This isn't passive listening—it's real-time dialogue, where the collective wisdom in the room shapes the conversation. Weigh in on traditional library hierarchies, preserving legacy services, experimenting with emerging technology, advocating for funds and demonstrating ROI to stakeholders, remote and hybrid work models, and more. Come prepared to vote, question, and maybe change your mind.

This session looks at change readiness. It shares a simple framework called THREAD (Transparency, Humanity, Resilience, Engagement, Alignment, Discipline) to help people navigate challenges in their organizations. Get lots of tips and techniques to share with your community.

Influencing skills are critical to getting things done. And getting out of the library to build bridges and relationships with partners and stakeholders is also important in supporting libraries and their communities. But it also means being persuasive and strategic when it comes to those relationships. Get techniques and practice them in this interactive and fun session.

Our speakers, who have held roles in corporate organizations, developed programs for training library folk and information professionals, experimented with AI, and more, share their ideas on the next generation of libraries. Hear their thoughts on what skills are needed in the library world and how we can build towards a more resilient future.