At ALA Conferences, the Board holds one update session and three meetings during the LibLearnX (virtual) and two meetings during the Annual Conference (in-person).
All meetings of the Board are open except when discussions affecting the privacy of individuals, institutions, or the association are held. Seats are provided for observers at open meetings. The final 15 minutes of the Board I meeting is set aside for an “open microphone” session, when any ACRL member may address the Board. (Source: In April 2022, the ACRL Board approved to update open microphone from thirty to fifteen minutes.)
Typically, one or two informal meetings for updates and training are held at each conference. The informal meetings are generally scheduled within the conference period starting Friday morning through midday on Tuesday.
ACRL staff request that Board meetings be co-located in the meeting hotel with the ACRL suite. A block of hotel rooms are also reserved for Board members and candidates who wish to stay at the “ACRL” meeting hotel. Individuals pay the ALA conference rate.
ACRL staff will provide Board members with a schedule of required meetings with dates, times and locations in advance of the Annual Conference.
The ALA Midwinter Meeting format has been shifting for the past two years, and in 2022, a new conference was unveiled by ALA Conference Services. The ALA Executive Board has recently approved that 2026 will be the final LibLearnX Conference, and will seek to identify how some aspects, such as the Youth Media Awards and MLK Sunrise Celebration, will continue. The ACRL Board holds virtual meetings in the weeks prior to or after LibLearnX.
