Hello LearnRT!
Please take a look at the following two opportunities for getting more involved in your ALA. If you are interested in reviewing conference proposals, please message me directly as I must make the appointment.
Review ALA Conference Proposals
The ALA Conference Committee is looking for an appointment from LEARNRT to serve on the ALA Jury for the 2026 Annual Program Proposals. This jury reviews submissions from round tables, affiliates and individuals who choose to submit to the general "ALA" category instead of to a division.
The juror commits to reviewing and scoring program proposals between October 1-October 31, 2025. All reviews must be completed by October 31 so that the jury chair can finalize decisions by November 7. The time commitment varies based on how many proposals are received and the total number of jurors we end up with. Typically, an ALA juror is assigned 30-40 proposals (for 2025 the number was 30). Based on my experience, I could review a few proposals a day for a week or spread it out to 10 a week. Cramming at the end is not ideal for anyone.
Conference Services will provide a juror training and guide during September. I've included some key dates below, with the dates in bold most relevant to this jury position.
Key Dates for 2026 Annual Conference:
- Submission sites opens: August 18
- Submission site closes: September 22
- Review site opens: October 1
- Review site closes: October 31
- Notifications: December 2025
- Schedule of Programs Announced: February 2026
Message Lindsay O'Neill with your interest by June 30, 2025!
Join Me at the Table
Interested in checking out the variety of round tables at ALA but don't know where to start? Want to serve as an ambassador for the round tables you love? We'd like to invite you to volunteer for the Join Me at the Table Initiative, a new buddy program that matches people across round tables to help them get to know new round tables.
The program is simple, just fill out the volunteer form and you will be matched with a member of a round table you are interested in. You will join that round table for a year and your buddy will join your round table. The two of you will exchange emails and attend two events(in person or virtual) during that year(one for each round table). At the end, you'll have a better sense of a different part of ALA, will have attended some interesting events and maybe even made a new friend.
The commitment is light.
- 15 dollars (round table membership fee for one year)
- 2 emails (one before, one after)
- 2 events (one for each round table
We hope you'll join us to help explore the different communities that make up ALA's round tables and make new connections across the organization. We'll be making our first matches in June ahead of ALA Annual, so volunteer today!
Won't you please Join Us at the Table!
Organized by GODORT.
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Lindsay O'Neill, MLIS, MEd
President, Learning Round Table
Instructional Designer and Consultant, Lindsay O'Neill Consulting LLC
She/Her/Hers
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