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Schedule

Get ready for a dynamic lineup of sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities at the 2025 MLA|DLA Annual Conference! This year’s agenda is designed to equip you with innovative strategies, practical tools, and fresh perspectives to navigate the evolving landscape of libraries and information services.

Browse the agenda to plan your experience and make the most of your time at the conference.

For full session descriptions, visit the Event Sessions page.

8:00 - 5:30 a.m.

  • Registration Table Opens

8:30 - 11:30 a.m.

  • Transforming Teen Services in Your Library ($60)
  • Braver Angels - Debating Across Difference ($60)
  • Prepared Libraries, Empowered Teams: Landing an All Hands on Deck Challenge-Ready Plan ($90)

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

  • Lunch Pick-Up

1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

  • ALICE Workshop ($60)
  • Intellectual Freedom in Crisis Times ($90)
  • Marketing to Build Support ($60)

4:00 - 4:30 p.m.

  • Happy Hour

4:30 - 5:30 p.m.

  • Opening Keynote: Lady Brion

5:45 -7:45 p.m.

  • Free for All: The Public Library (Documentary Screening)

5:45 - 6:45 p.m.

  • Ignite Session 1
  • Posters

8:30 - 9:30 a.m.

  • All about AASL
  • DLA Community Engagement Grant: Three Library Staff Members’ Experiences
  • Charting Your Course: Updating Your Library’s Legal Research Guide
  • “Setting Sail for Success: State-Level Collaboration Supporting Youth Services and Family Engagement”
  • Community First - Making The Library Accessible to Neurodivergent Families
  • Intellectual Freedom Helpline
  • Rip Tide Resilience: Swimming Parallel to Teen Users

8:30 - 10:30 a.m.

  • All About the Caldecott Committee
  • Beanstack Tips and Tricks
  • Building a Culture of Leadership
  • The Library is for Everyone: Engaging Adults with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities
  • We Keep Us Safe: Community as De-escalation in Library Settings
  • Understanding & Applying Principles & Elements of Design to Improve Visual Communication

9:45 - 10:45 a.m.

  • Riding the Waves of Library Collection Trends

9:45 - 11:45 a.m.

  • Riding the K-pop Wave: creating engaging fandom programming at your library
  • Everybody Eats…Dig In to Library Resources for Ag Literacy
  • A Deep Dive into Census Data: For Planning, Fundraising, and Advocacy
  • Setting Boundaries
  • How To Set Up Autism-Friendly Programming At The Library
  • Leading While Black: guidance for the next generations

10:45 - 11:45 a.m.

  • Even Without Sight, there is Still Vision: Empowering Independence for the Visually Impaired
  • Beachside Sips: Savor the Fun of Advocacy & Fundraising Events
  • Seas the Night: Creating Space for Teens with After Hours Programming
  • Privacy Programming in Your Library: Using Library Freedom Project Resources
  • Seas the Moment: Reducing Library Anxiety through Quick Connections in Academic Libraries
  • Challenging Traditional Pedagogy: OER

12:00 - 1:30 p.m.

  • Maryland Author Award Keynote & Luncheon

1:30 - 2:00 p.m.

  • Visit the Vendors

2:15 - 3:15 p.m.

  • Addressing Privacy Issues in Youth and Tech Use
  • Uncovering Delaware’s Queer History: Turning Research into Engagement with Social Media
  • About book bans
  • Maryland State Library Agency/Delaware Division of Libraries Update
  • Author Talk
  • Library Advocacy from Your Backyard to the World Stage: A Conversation with ALA Past President Julius Jefferson

2:15 - 4:15 p.m.

  • How To: Run Your Own Indie Game Festival
  • Service Dogs: What They Are, Where They Can Go, and What You Can Say
  • Empowering Library Advocates: Library Advocacy and Maryland’s Legislative Process
  • Book Buzz
  • Fostering an Inclusive Workplace for Staff with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities
  • Manga for Librarians, Parents, and Teacher
  • Adult Programming Sandbox: Collective Ideation for Innovation and Creativity

3:30 - 4:30 p.m.

  • Surfing Toward Thriving Libraries & Communities Through Advocacy at All Levels

3:45 - 4:45 p.m.

  • Serving Our LGBTQIA+ Communities with Name Change Clinics
  • Libraries as transformational spaces: Creating comprehensive services for underserved populations in today’s political climate
  • From Baby Boss to Boss, Baby! Transitioning from Youth Services to Management
  • Innovation (beach-themed title TBD)
  • How to Establish a Book Sanctuary in your Library and Community

4:30 - 5:30 p.m.

  • Bridging the Divide: Enhancing Family Ties in Correctional Settings
  • Riding the Sound Wave: Launching a Public Library Recording Studio
  • Diversifying Librarianship: Fellowships and Residencies are not Enough
  • Queer Inclusion 201: Ideas to Action
  • Literacy Sandcastle Building
  • Feelings don’t care about your facts: ethically navigating library advocacy in an age of propaganda.
  • Battle of the Books for Grownups (working title)

5:30 - 6:00 p.m.

  • Mingle

6:00 - 7:30 p.m.

  • Thursday Evening Keynote and Banquet

8:00 - 10:00 p.m.

  • Pub Quiz!
  • Karaoke

7:30 - 9:00 a.m.

  • MLA Annual Member Meeting and Breakfast
  • DLA Annual Member Meeting and Breakfast

9:30 - 10:30 a.m.

  • Closing Keynote

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon

  • Ignite Session 2
  • Beyond Books: Introducing DEI Programs in Library Spaces
  • Library Student Employment as a High Impact Practice: Empowering Students to Succeed
  • Introduction to Weeding: Basic Practices for a Better Collection
  • Run a Teen Dungeons & Dragons Club
  • Beachcombing for History: Treasures of Maryland’s Past in Digital Maryland
  • Make Your School Library as Intriguing as the Beach!
  • Converging Oceans: Conversations in Global Resource Sharing
  • Serving Homeschoolers in Public Libraries: A Panel Discussion
  • Literary Reparations: Fully Funded Library Science Scholarships for Black Students
  • Beyond the Drag Queen Story Time
  • Demystifying AI Instruction: A Byte-Sized Case Study
  • Banned Books Week at an Academic Library: Collaboration and Promoting Student Engagement

1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

  • Charting the Course Together: Empowering Leaders through Collective Growth and Experience
  • Seas the Fun: Beach Reads Hiding in Your Academic Library
  • User Experience From a Circulation Perspective
  • Hollywood in the Stacks: A Film Club for Teens in the Library
  • Life's a Beach When You're Schools Is In the Delaware Library Catalog
  • Check It Out! Marketing Your Collection with Better Booklists and Displays
  • Let's Talk Stuff
  • MLA | DLA: The Ethics Edition
  • Easy (Climate) Listening: How to Start Worrying and Love Your Neighbors
  • Bridging the Middle: How Tween Literature Can Spur Intergenerational Conversations for Healing and Change
  • Putting the “Special” in Special Collections
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