The ACRL 2013 came to a close with more than 4,800 library staff, exhibitors, speakers and guests from 50 US states and 19 countries meeting at the Indiana Convention Center. The conference, hosted by ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) from April 10-13, discussed the changing role of academic libraries.
Themed 'Imagine, Innovate, Inspire,' the conference offered more than 300 programmes that featured a wide range of content curated by academic librarians, addressing the value of academic libraries and librarians. Attendees were said to have had access to cutting-edge content and opportunities to engage in conversations on the value of academic libraries as partners in the higher education community, trends in technology, scholarly communication, information literacy instruction, space planning and design and recruitment.
ACRL 2013 featured a line-up of distinguished keynote speakers, with social justice as a reoccurring theme. Education reform advocate Geoffrey Canada, described as 'inspiring' and 'thought provoking,' discussed the need to invest in education as an alternative to a cradle-to-prison pipeline.
Punk rock icon Henry Rollins' keynote address focused on how social change and human progress were fueled by preservation and free access to information. Hinojos closed ACRL 2013 with remarks that touched on the changing narrative of multiculturalism in the US and academic librarians' role in empowering youth through access to information.
ACRL continued its focus on innovative programming, offering such programmes as IdeaPower Unconference, Powers of Ten Dialogue and THATCamp, among others.
More than 500 academic and research librarians unable to make the trip to Indianapolis attended the conference virtually. The ACRL 2013 Virtual Conference provided 12 webcasts, as well as asynchronous activities, allowing for convenient scheduling and flexibility. Attendees who missed sessions can now log on to the Virtual Conference archive, which provides access to slidecasts of invited paper and panel sessions along with Cyber Zed Shed presentations. Access to 130 contributed papers is also freely available to all online at http://www.ala.org/acrl/acrl/conferences/2013/papers.
The next ACRL Conference, themed 'Creating Sustainable Community,' will take place in 2015 in Portland, Ore. from March 25-28 and will be one of the premiere events highlighting ACRL's 75th anniversary.
