NLLA is pleased to announce our 2020 Annual Conference: Resilience will take place on Monday, May 4. In his book Palaces for the People, sociologist Eric Klinenberg describes how a group of planners met to discuss ways to restore resilience to 21st century cities. Someone proposed a compelling idea for a “resilience center” – a place that would be a community gathering place, open every day, welcoming to everyone, staffed by trained professionals, with flexible space that could be adapted for many uses. Klinenberg realized that most communities already have such a place – their local library. Read more about this year’s conference theme.

We are seeking proposals for the following presentation types:

• Long presentation or workshop: 45-minute sessions, composed of either a 30-minute presentation and 15-minute question period, or a 45 minute workshop.  May be either practice-based or research-based.
• Panel: We will ask a series of questions, and a moderated discussion will be led around the topic of resilience.  Please tell us why you would like to be on the panel.
• Lightning talk: 7-10 minute timed presentations, designed to give attendees a brief glimpse into an idea, project, program or activity.
• Book teaser: 10-minute presentations consisting of a book talk and reading of a short excerpt.  Teasers can be based on any book chosen by the presenter, including fiction, non-fiction, adult or children’s literature (does not have to be authored by the presenter).  Please state the book title in abstract.

The deadline for proposals is Monday, March 30th.  Please submit your proposal using our online form and remember to include:

• An indication of the presentation type (long presentation, short presentation, lightning talk or book teaser).
• The presentation title plus a brief abstract (max. 250 words for a long or short presentation; max. 100 words for a lightning talk or book teaser) describing your topic and the goals of your presentation.
• Contact details (name, library, position, telephone number and email address) for each speaker.
• A brief (max 50 word) biography for each speaker.

For questions or comments, please contact Conference Chairs Elyse Sparkes Coombs (elysecoombs@gmail.com) or Jessie Cahill-Bouzane (Jessica.Cahill-Bouzane@mi.mun.ca),  or Wendy Rogers (wrodgers@mun.ca) and Erin Alcock (ekalcock@mun.ca) of the NLLA Conference Program Committee.