Thank you for your interest in presenting at the 2021 OLA Super Conference! The event will be held in Toronto from Wednesday January 27 to Saturday January 30, 2021. Saturday’s program is devoted to the Public Library Trustee Bootcamp. Proposals will now be accepted until June 7th, 2020 at midnight.

Please follow this link to read the most recent update on the 2021 OLA Super Conference.

We hope you’ll join us as we explore this year’s theme:

Clever Minds and Human Hearts | Esprits brillants et cœurs bienveillants

Dr Jane Goodall said that “only when our clever brain and our human heart work together in harmony can we achieve our true potential”. It is this harmony – bringing together our intellect and reason with our passion – that makes us powerful and poised to face intractable challenges, connect to our shared values, and create our collective future.

As you receive this call for proposals, we are all in the midst of an unprecedented set of circumstances, managing the impact of a global pandemic. Throughout these challenging times, our members have been tapping into their amazing strength, ingenuity and courage to find solutions and adapt, to ensure that we continue to serve our communities, and provide continuity and support in a time of fear and instability. This is a powerful example of clever minds and human hearts applied with courage in order to adapt and grow. As we look ahead to Super Conference 2021, we can carry forward this strength to renew our profession, cultivate new opportunities, sustain our communities, find harmony within ourselves and achieve every potential.

Ready to get started? Create your account and begin your submission here

Need session ideas? Take a look at our list of topic priorities.

Submission Tips

  1. Make sure the title and description accurately reflect your session content. Both your title and description will be published in the online program. When considering a title, keep in mind that it should be able to stand alone and clearly convey what your presentation will cover.
  2. Ensure that your description reflects three learning objectives so that the right people are encouraged to participate in your session.
  3. In designing your session, we encourage you to include opportunities for interaction amongst participants so that they can take advantage of the knowledge of their peers.

Session Formats

This call is open to sessions in lecture, panel, and workshop formats. We are especially interested in sessions that:

  • Allow opportunities for interactions among attendees
  • Include the perspectives of multiple library sectors
  • Provide tools and templates that attendees can take-away and adapt to their library’s needs.
  • We are also interested in exploring non-traditional session formats, so don’t hesitate to submit presentation proposals that fall outside of the conference standard.

Speakers will have access to a standard AV setup (projector, screen, and HDMI/VGA cables) and participants will be seated either in rounds (for sessions where tables are required) or in theatre seating.

Key Dates

Call for Submissions Deadline
May 27, 2020

Notification of Acceptance / Non-Acceptance
July 25, 2020

Final Session Details and AV Requirements Confirmed
September 11, 2020

Registration Milestones

Completed Speaker Registration Form
December 20, 2020

Super Conference
January 27-31, 2021

New Submission Platform

This year, Super Conference proposals will be submitted through a portal called AwardForce. You must create an account using your email address, and you may submit as many proposals as you like. You will have the opportunity to work on and edit your proposals before they are submitted, so no need to have them ready when you first log in to check out the submission form.

Create your account and begin your submission here