By LJ Staff

The American Library Association’s (ALA) annual conference returns to a live event after a two year run of virtual-only conventions owing to COVID. The in-person event will be held June 23–28 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Here is a curated selection of sessions that appealed to the LJ editors who are attending the conference.

UPDATE: While the state of Oregon will be dropping the mask mandate effective March 12, PLA 2022 requirements for masking and vaccination/negative test will remain in effect during the conference. 

For the second year, the American Library Association (ALA) takes to the web to host its annual conference safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking place June 23-29 on a monitor near you. Exhibits will be open June 23–26 and, much like their analog counterparts, will feature activities to keep things fun and lively, including yoga, a magic show, and a bunny break.

As announced in August 2020, the final incarnation of the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits, originally scheduled to be held in Indianapolis, IN, will instead take place virtually January 22–26. Registration will be open until January 15. Here are LJ’s editors’ picks from the program.

This July, LJ launches #LJReads, a community-wide read; our first book will be Curtis Sittenfeld's Rodham.

Held online from June 24–26, ALA Virtual—Community Through Connection saw 7,349 attendees and 651 exhibitors and featured more than 50 sessions, live chats with authors and speakers, more than 75 publisher and exhibitor sessions on new titles, a virtual exhibit floor with more than 600 participating exhibitors, 11 featured speakers, and a Swag-a-Palooza with hundreds of free items.

As we all know by now, 2020 is not a normal year and ALA's annual conference has gone virtual from June 24–26. While missing the chance to network, connect, and collect galleys, the silver lining is that attending ALA is now available to a far broader cross-section of the field than ever before. Here, LJ’s editors have made their personal picks. 

BookExpo online starts today and runs through Friday. Here are the can't-miss sessions for librarians.

The penultimate Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association (ALA) will take place Jan. 24–28 in Philadelphia. This year’s programmatic offerings are timely, tackling the library role in addressing issues from service to refugees and detained migrants to disaster recovery to the upcoming 2020 Census—and election. Within the profession, grappling with structural inequity and fighting for fair ebook access are also top of mind.