For 26 years, the OLA Super Conference has brought together the best elements of the library community. It has given us space to share, to dream, to hunker down and get things done, and to spring forward into future opportunities.
Many of you have asked about OLA Super Conference 2021. The one thing we can say for sure is that it is happening and it will be great thanks to our planning team and the session proposals we have reviewed to date. What will your conference look like? This is a work in progress and we have to be creative and entrepreneurial. We don’t know when libraries will re-open, we don’t know when travel will resume, we don’t know when social distancing measures will be lifted. What we do know is that the library sector is a resilient one, and that we always find a way to connect, to share, to build, and to grow with one another. Now, more than ever, is the time that libraries need to learn from one another.
We had already planned for increased virtual elements in the 2021 conference and are looking at how we can showcase and engage exhibitors and library suppliers, as we know this has already been happening in the library world with events like the recent School Library Journal’s Day of Dialog. What we know for sure, now, is that the virtual experience is going to be a significant part of what we are able to deliver to conference-goers in January 2021. OLA is exploring the potential of in-person gatherings with our partners, and will share every new development as soon as we are able.
Our Call for Proposals is open until June 7th. We are actively soliciting proposals because if we are to have a robust conference experience, virtually or in-person or both, we need you – your ideas, your clever minds and human hearts – to be a part of it.
If you have already submitted a proposal, we have updated our proposal form so that you can indicate if you would prefer to deliver a virtual or in-person session (or maybe both!). We are as dedicated as ever to supporting the library community, and we know that the Super Conference 2021 will be a memorable event that will help us move into the future together.