LibLearnX attendees with conference guide Photo by Event Photography of North America Corporation (EPNAC)

In January, the American Library Association (ALA) offered its recently reimagined winter event, LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, in person for the first time. The inaugural LibLearnX, held in January 2022, was presented virtually to accommodate COVID restrictions and concerns. This year debuted a hybrid model: The live version, held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans from January 27–30, was attended by 1,712 library workers and supporters and 757 exhibitors, authors, illustrators, press, and ALA staff. The LLX Digital Experience hosted 190 online attendees.

Those opting for the virtual conference were able to access live sessions designed for synchronous participation as well as all LLX Digital Experience content, including the Opening and Closing sessions, the ALA Youth Media Awards, education sessions, five author speakers presenting on the LLX Studio stage, ALA Governance meetings, and the virtual presentation of the Book and Media Awards and Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction Awards. through February 28.

ALA exceeded overall attendance goals for the conference, although it fell slightly short for paid registration. The conference as a whole was smaller than in pre-COVID years, with the show floor visibly less populated than in past conferences. But many noted that the lack of packed aisles and wall-to-wall booths made for more comprehensive and personal exchanges among vendors, publishers, and attendees. Conferencegoers also felt that the quality of sessions and speakers was high; events were well-attended, including several sessions and awards ceremonies held at the New Orleans Marriott a mile away from the Convention Center. And, because it was New Orleans, food, drink, and entertainment around town were all top-notch.

ALA President Lessa Kanani‘opua Pelayo-Lozada agreed. “It was a lot more focused,” she told LJ. “Large spaces like Annual conference can be really intimidating because there are so many options, there are so many people, and there are so many things that folks want to do. I think that having a smaller group and having it really focused on library workers and practitioners, as well as how our allies can support our work, allowed us to try new things.”

SPEAKING UP

Nichelle M. Hayes talks with Nic Stone and Ibram X. Kendi Photo by Lisa Peet

LibLearnX sessions led off on Saturday, January 28, with a discussion between Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone, coauthors of How to Be a (Young) Antiracist (Kokila), moderated by Indianapolis Public Library Interim CEO Nichelle M. Hayes. Their book, a reimagining of Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist, offers content for young people, addressing the messages of internalized racism that children receive early—how young people of color are often “asked what they did wrong” by the adults in their lives when targeted by racist violence—and the ways white supremacist groups target white teens.

Kendi and Stone discussed their collaboration, stepping back and playing to the other’s strengths, and their focus on keeping the message engaging and relevant. Young people have a hunger for action and change, both agreed; the book enumerates the “four C’s” of change: cogency, compassion, creativity, collaboration. “When you think of the history of anti-racism,” said Kendi, “these large bodies of people who have forged social movements, that have directly challenged racist power, policies, and ideas, in more cases than not it was young people who were at the vanguard of those social movements.”

He added, “This is the book I needed when I was 15, 16 years old, and I was trying to navigate racism in New York City when my teachers, and police officers, and people I didn’t know, were mistreating me, and I was internalizing their mistreatment, and no one was really explaining to me that their mistreatment was their problem, not me.”

Stone, who grew up in the early 2000s in “the thick of the colorblind movement,” found working with Kendi and hearing his stories validated her own experience, and she believes their book will have resonance for adults as well as kids. “It’s a book that gives us the opportunity to rehumanize ourselves,” she said.

In a moving conversation with Louisiana Associate State Librarian Michael Golrick, artist and debut author Willie Mae Brown talked about her middle-grade book My Selma: True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement (Farrar, Straus). She brought to life stories of her 12-year-old self, including (grudgingly) going to church with her mother to see Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak, tales of beloved Christmas toys received and others broken, and of her cousin Frankie, who loved a white woman in Civil Rights–era Alabama. “We have the right to love who we want to love. Nobody should be able to tell us that we can’t,” she said. “Don’t ever let anybody tell you what you can’t do, or what you shouldn’t do, because they don’t think it’s right. It’s the heart that matters. And you fight for that.”

Other authors and writers who took the stage throughout the weekend included Cory Doctorow, Carole Lindstrom, Steph Littlebird, Brian Selznick, and Clint Smith. Singer-songwriter, activist, and author Ani DiFranco closed out the conference with a talk about her debut picture book, The Knowing (Rise X Penguin Workshop).

PUTTING THE “LEARN” IN LIBLEARNX

Many of the sessions offered hands-on, practical knowledge for conferencegoers to take home. “Leverage Federal Funds to Advance Digital Equity in Your Community” provided information on federal funding opportunities from librarian and consultant Michelle Frisque, Public Library Association (PLA) Deputy Director Larra Clark, and Institute of Museum and Library Service (IMLS) Senior Program Officer James Neal. Grants and programs aiding a range of initiatives that support community broadband were highlighted; speakers offered details, timelines, application links, and guidelines for libraries and consortia looking to secure available federal dollars.

ALA President Lessa Kanani‘opua Pelayo-Lozada Event Photography of North America Corporation (EPNAC)

Frontline-worker needs were centered in sessions such as “Library Workers: Organize and Activate.” Moderators Pelayo-Lozada and President-Elect Emily Drabinski were joined by DC Public School System Media Specialist K.C. Boyd; Manager of Young Adult Services for the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) and President of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) Candice (Wing-yee) Mack; previous ALA Executive Director and LAPL Director Elizabeth Martinez; and Seattle Public Library Library Associate and Reference Assistant at Seattle Central College Lesley Garrett. Each described her introduction to activism—from Boyd’s childhood walking the picket lines with her parents to Martinez’s advocacy for library workers of color in the 1970s—and went on to offer actionable suggestions for organizing at every step of the way.

Much of the conversation centered around the many roles involved in activism, especially for those who don’t necessarily want to get behind a bullhorn—Mack, who began her professional life as an ALA Spectrum Scholar, acknowledged the work Martinez did to help make that ongoing cohort possible. Garrett spoke about helping to provide and move resources, from fundraising to “carrying the tissue box” and providing support to those out on the front lines. Boyd highlighted the importance of going to local board and council meetings, writing testimonials, and speaking with elected officials. Envision yourself as the hero of the fairy tales you read as a child, Mack suggested: “Every day we have that chance. No matter if it’s just an email or a tweet, making the t-shirts, there’s an opportunity there.”

Other topics included sustaining yourself and your colleagues, managing anger, setting boundaries, and mobilizing support outside of the work being done. People early in their activist careers should remember that they don’t need to reinvent the wheel, suggested Garrett, invoking librarian and organizer Mariame Kaba: “fall in behind good work that’s already happening.” It’s important to be around people who believe that change can happen, said Martinez, adding, “The most important thing I can bring to my own work is a sense of hope, every morning.”

Examining a more specific area of getting things done, Drabinski followed the panel with “Organizing for Change” with Leah Richardson, special collections librarian at George Washington University, Washington, DC. Drawing on their own experiences, they broke the necessary phases of change-making into clear steps based on the principles of organizing—identifying the issues in play, assessing the group being organized, building campaigns, organizing community support, and bargaining. “The difference between organizers and people who are just mad all the time is that organizers make a plan to win,” noted Drabinski.

A session on Saturday, January 28, at the New Orleans Marriott hit particularly close to home. A panel of Louisiana librarians, members of ALA’s Freedom to Read Foundation, and representatives from the Tulane University School of Law discussed the intellectual freedom challenges libraries are contending with across the state. The panelists offered actionable guidance for libraries confronting challenges of their own, as well as a range of critical resources.

(For additional coverage, see SLJ’s “Looking Back at ALA’s First In-Person LibLearnX Conference.”)

ALA is currently gathering feedback from attendees and is beginning to look at program proposals for LibLearnX 2024, which will be held in Baltimore. Pelayo-Lozada hopes that those who attended this year will spread the word about what the smaller, nimbler event has to offer. “This first [in-person] year was just to see what the most basic version could be,” she told LJ. “Having this new experience allows us to be more iterative and intentional about what conferences look like in this new hybrid world that we’re living in. Over the next few years, we’ll continue to tweak and change things based on feedback, to make it what we need it to be.”