Annual Conference
We are pleased to announce the call for papers and posters is now open for the 2023 Annual Conference of the M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries.
The M25 Consortium’s 2023 annual conference will take place virtually on Wednesday 14th June. The theme this year is ‘Sustainability and kindness’ and will consider the broad and often connected themes of environmental sustainability and kindness – both to each other and to the environment we all depend on. What role can M25 libraries play in supporting both institutional and international sustainability goals? How can the collective actions of individual users and library staff deliver positive benefits for the environment? What successful sustainability stories can already be told about M25 Consortium libraries, and what role did a supportive, kind culture play? This event will provide an opportunity to share experiences, initiatives and learning. On the basis that the smallest changes can ultimately have a massive cumulative effect on the global challenge of environmental sustainability, all initiatives are of interest.
Your paper or poster could detail a particular project your library service is leading on, or look at higher level developments in the sector as a whole. In either case we want to offer a conference that enables delegates to return to their institutions with practical ideas to follow up and consider implementing in their own library service. The conference is attended by a wide range of library staff, from library assistants to directors of library services. The type of libraries they represent reflect the diversity of the M25 Consortium membership: there will be HE libraries represented alongside national, museum and special research collection libraries. In submitting your abstract you should consider the diverse audience your paper or poster will have.
The main paper sessions will be 20-25 mins long, plus Q&A. We encourage the use of slides to support your presentation, but please note that these can only be in PowerPoint format (this is due to the need for consistency in running the technical side of the conference).
Posters will need to be presented in pdf format and we encourage individuals from all levels and a variety of roles to apply.
Applicants must currently work for an M25 Member library. Jointly-authored submissions are acceptable (maximum two persons per paper or poster). We particularly encourage submissions from those working outside the Higher Education sector, to reflect the diversity of M25 membership. Successful applicants will be eligible for discounted entry to the conference.
Abstracts of not more than 250 words should be submitted to the Committee via M25libadmin@london.ac.uk. Please submit your abstract as a Word file (not in the text body of an email), which is saved with your surname and ‘M25 Conference 2023’ in the title. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 5pm on Thursday 6th April 2023. All applicants will be notified of the outcome in the following weeks.
Here are the presentations from previous conferences:
2022: “All things being equal: the regional contribution of libraries”
2021: “The Future of Libraries”
2020: “The Future of Libraries”( Posters only, event cancelled due to Covid-19)