Michigan Academic Library Association (MiALA) 2026 Annual Conference: Call for Presentation Proposals
Finding Our True North: Creating Connections to Light Our Way
Amid an era of rapid and often unsettling change in higher education, Michigan’s academic libraries remain vital centers of integrity, inquiry, and connection. Committed to upholding intellectual freedom, access, inclusivity, privacy, and the pursuit of truth, our “True North” is the shared compass that guides our work and keeps us grounded. We invite the academic library community to reflect on how we can embody our profession’s enduring core values, even when external pressures threaten to pull us off course. This year’s conference seeks to illuminate how academic libraries across Michigan are building resilience, fostering collaboration, and staying true to our values.
MiALA invites you to submit a presentation proposal for the conference, which will be held May 6-8, 2025, at the Park Place Hotel and Conference Center in downtown Traverse City, MI. Participation from librarians, library staff, LIS students, and administrators from all types of academic libraries is encouraged. MiALA membership is not required to submit a proposal.
We welcome proposals on topics covering any aspect of academic libraries. We are especially interested in those proposals that explore how academic libraries are reaffirming their “True North”—the guiding principles that sustain and inspire our work. Possible presentation topics might include:
Strategies for upholding professional ethics and values amid controversy or censorship.
Building resilience and courage in the face of external pressure or burnout.
Creating connections across communities, institutions, or disciplines to strengthen our collective impact.
Creating authentic connections—with students, faculty, colleagues, or community partners—that sustain purpose and morale.
Cultivating curiosity, creativity, and adaptability in uncertain times.
Reimagining leadership and decision-making grounded in the library’s enduring mission.
Sharing practical examples of aligning policies, services, and partnerships with the profession’s core beliefs.
Practicing self-care and collective care as acts of professional integrity.
We are currently seeking proposals for the following presentation formats:
Presentations, panels, or moderated discussion sessions (45 min.) Individual or group presentations, panel sessions, and moderated discussion sessions are all welcome. Each of these sessions will be 45 minutes, including a Q&A.
Interactive workshops (105 min.) An opportunity to teach and explore current and emerging topics in a collaborative atmosphere. Workshops encourage a hands-on experience that may combine active learning, collaboration, and discussion.
Lightning Talks (10 min.) A short individual presentation addressing a specific topic or project. Lightning talks provide attendees with the opportunity to learn about a range of innovative ideas from a broad and varied group of colleagues in a short amount of time. Lightning talks will be grouped into sessions that may or may not be themed. Lightning talk sessions will be 45 minutes, including a Q&A.
Along with presenter(s) information, program proposals must include title, presentation format, presentation description (up to 300 words), short abstract (up to 75 words), and learning objective(s). Proposals undergo a blind, peer-reviewed process and will be evaluated on relevance to the conference theme, impact on academic libraries and higher education, originality, creativity, clarity, and format appropriateness. For workshops, include plans for interactivity and audience engagement in the session description.
Note: Poster presentation proposals will open in early December.
If you have a topic you would like to explore and are looking for collaborators, consider adding your session idea to the Breakout Session Collaboration spreadsheet. This spreadsheet is not monitored by MiALA or the Program Committee and is not part of the official submission process.
All presenters will be required to:
Register for the conference
Comply with deadlines
Please submit your presentation proposal using the application form by January 12, 2026. The primary contact listed on each proposal will receive a message indicating receipt of the proposal when it is submitted and decisions on proposals will be communicated to the primary contact in late January or early February.
Questions about proposals can be sent to Stephanie Swanberg, sswanberg@msp.edu.
Questions about the conference in general can be sent to conference@miala.org.
Join us as we come together in Traverse City to reflect, reconnect, and rediscover our collective direction. Let’s amplify the stories, strategies, and sparks of inspiration that remind us of who we are and why our work matters.