2026 ILA/ACRL & IPAL Conference: Full Schedule

12:00pm CDT

Registration (generously sponsored by OCLC)

Thursday May 28, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT

Vogel Library Rotunda

Thursday May 28, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT
Vogel Library Rotunda 100 Wartburg Blvd Waverly IA 50677

1:00pm CDT

Opening Remarks

Thursday May 28, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm CDT

Science Center 102

Opening Remarks will be delivered by 2026 ILA/ACRL President Kris Stacy-Bates (Iowa State University) and Dr. Debbi Johnson-Ross, VPAA and Dean of the Faculty (Wartburg College).

More information to follow.

Thursday May 28, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm CDT
Science Center 102 100 Wartburg Blvd Waverly IA 50677

2:10pm CDT

Capitalism and the Evolution of the Library Marketplace: From Philanthropy to Platforms

Thursday May 28, 2026 2:10pm - 3:00pm CDT

Library Classroom 2

This presentation traces how capitalism and neoliberal policy have shaped the library marketplace from the Carnegie era to today’s platform-dominated e‑resource ecosystem. By examining philanthropic foundations, corporate consolidation, the serials crisis, rentier business models, and platform capitalism, it reveals how market forces influence library autonomy, access, pricing, and...
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Speakers

Julie Gaida

University of Iowa

Thursday May 28, 2026 2:10pm - 3:00pm CDT
Library Classroom 2

Concurrent Session

2:10pm CDT

Time to Think: Critical Information Literacy in Credit Teaching

Thursday May 28, 2026 2:10pm - 3:00pm CDT

Library Classroom 1

At UNI, our latest Information Literacy Program includes a renewed focus on credit teaching, allowing librarians more time to refine their individual pedagogies and engage students in deeper critical thought. The presenters will each showcase a specific assignment from one of their credit courses that encourages critical thinking: a discussion that engages with equity, power, and ethics in...
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Speakers

Angie Cox

University of Northern Iowa

Amandajean Nolte

University of Northern Iowa

Thursday May 28, 2026 2:10pm - 3:00pm CDT
Library Classroom 1

Concurrent Session

2:10pm CDT

Training Library Student Employees: Always Evolving

Thursday May 28, 2026 2:10pm - 3:00pm CDT

Curriculum Lab

The Student Employee Supervisors at Wartburg’s Vogel Library are always experimenting with new training methods. It is important for us to train our student teams to be self-disciplined thinkers who will approach patron interactions with the highest level of quality and integrity. In this session we will talk about the evolution of our training methods and key takeaways.

Speakers

Meredith Borchardt

Wartburg College

Julie Fedeler

Wartburg College

Renée Barney

Wartburg College

Thursday May 28, 2026 2:10pm - 3:00pm CDT
Curriculum Lab

Concurrent Session

3:15pm CDT

Archives/Special Collections

Thursday May 28, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT

Curriculum Lab

Speakers

Kay Grigsby

Wartburg College

Thursday May 28, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
Curriculum Lab

Interest Group

3:15pm CDT

Directors

Thursday May 28, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT

Library Classroom 1

Speakers

Theresa Westbrock

University of Northern Iowa

Thursday May 28, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
Library Classroom 1

Interest Group

3:15pm CDT

Instruction

Thursday May 28, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT

Library Classroom 2

Speakers

Laurie Neuerberg

University of Iowa

Thursday May 28, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
Library Classroom 2

Interest Group

4:30pm CDT

Library Tour

Thursday May 28, 2026 4:30pm - 5:30pm CDT

Vogel Library Rotunda

Thursday May 28, 2026 4:30pm - 5:30pm CDT
Vogel Library Rotunda 100 Wartburg Blvd Waverly IA 50677

6:00pm CDT

Dine Arounds (Information Updated!)

Thursday May 28, 2026 6:00pm - 8:00pm CDT

Vogel Library Rotunda

Attendees can now sign-up for Dine Arounds. The current sign-up sheet can be found here. You are encouraged to sign up to be a facilitator for conversation if you so desire and if you are planning on a difference restaurant, add it to the list! This is a casual opportunity for library professionals to engage with one another. Attendees are responsible for their own meals.

Thursday May 28, 2026 6:00pm - 8:00pm CDT
Vogel Library Rotunda 100 Wartburg Blvd Waverly IA 50677

8:00am CDT

Registration and Coffee (generously sponsored by Mobius)

Friday May 29, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT

Vogel Library Rotunda

MOBIUS logo 2c pdf

Friday May 29, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Vogel Library Rotunda 100 Wartburg Blvd Waverly IA 50677

9:00am CDT

Lightning Talks (Information Forthcoming)

Friday May 29, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am CDT

Science Center 102

Friday May 29, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am CDT
Science Center 102 100 Wartburg Blvd Waverly IA 50677

10:15am CDT

Better Together: Building a Collaborative Educator Preparation Center

Friday May 29, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT

Curriculum Lab

In Fall 2025, Rod Library at the University of Northern Iowa debuted the TEACH Studio, a collaboration between the library and the College of Education. This presentation will describe the process that went into developing the space and collections that support the educator preparation program at UNI along with lessons learned over the course of many years.

Speakers

Katie Nedwick

University of Northern Iowa

Theresa Westbrock

University of Northern Iowa

Eric Jennings

University of Northern Iowa

Friday May 29, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT
Curriculum Lab

Concurrent Session

10:15am CDT

Demonstrating Relevance during Critical Times: Concierge Library Services

Friday May 29, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT

Library Classroom 2

Dwindling library use and rumors of upcoming staff cuts compelled me to offer personalized reference services that I had previously considered outside our normal scope. These budget-neutral “concierge services” allow us to form personal relationships with library users, increase use of library resources, and build advocates in a time when the library can be too easily overlooked.

Speakers

Jodie Morin

Buena Vista University

Friday May 29, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT
Library Classroom 2

Concurrent Session

10:15am CDT

Reading Between the Bans

Friday May 29, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT

Library Classroom 1

In teaching a first-year seminar on banned books and censorship, I found that controversy and disagreement can be productive starting points for teaching information literacy. By pairing current events with structured dialogue and research-based assignments, students learned to evaluate claims, consider power dynamics, and examine how knowledge is shaped. I’ll share what worked, what didn’t,...
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Speakers

Joanna Stankiewicz

Drake University

Friday May 29, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT
Library Classroom 1

Concurrent Session

11:30am CDT

Bingo! Cultivating academic library joy through gamification

Friday May 29, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT

Curriculum Lab

Learn how the David D. Palmer Health Sciences Library created a low-cost library orientation program to promote library resources and services to graduate students with bingo. This presentation will walk you through planning and executing a fun, affordable, adaptable, low effort event, suitable for large or small groups using free tools.

Speakers

Jennifer Smith

Palmer College of Chiropractic

Library Bingo Presentation (1) pptx

Friday May 29, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT
Curriculum Lab

Concurrent Session

11:30am CDT

Critical Shifting: Reorganizing the Shelves of the Archives of Iowa Broadcasting

Friday May 29, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT

Library Classroom 1

This presentation will give an in-depth look at the shelf reorganization project of the Archives of Iowa Broadcasting at Wartburg College. Utilizing manpower, student workers, and Excel, the AIB created and implemented solutions to their decades long problem of vault organization for accessibility and preservation.

Speakers

Kay Grigsby

Wartburg College

Friday May 29, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT
Library Classroom 1

Concurrent Session

11:30am CDT

“Traditional Knowledge?” Indigenizing Academic Librarianship in the Digital Age

Friday May 29, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT

Library Classroom 2

Indigenous Librarianship seeks to reclaim space and authority within library systems in order to create more ethical and inclusive Indigenous knowledge creation and preservation in the library. This presentation describes the special role academic libraries lead in the creation of Indigenized libraries by describing the work of the Xwi7xwa Library, Leech Lake Tribe’s Bezhigoogahbow Library, and...
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Speakers