11:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Board of Directors Meeting (for Board members only)

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

2024 Learning Summit (for ARL Fellows and invited guests only)

8:00 a.m. 

Breakfast Available

8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

OPENING SESSION & Breakfast

• ARL President's Welcome
• Program Planning Task Force Chair's Welcome

Forging New Paths: Leadership in the Evolving Landscape of Research Libraries
Dan Porterfield ■ Jon Shaw

As the landscape of higher education, learning organizations, and research libraries
undergo rapid transformation, we find ourselves at a critical juncture. Join Dan Porterfield,
President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, former President of Franklin & Marshall College,
and author of the book Mindset Matters: The Power of College to Activate Lifelong Growth
about the value of college in today’s changing world, for a fireside chat with Vanderbilt’s
University Librarian, Jon Shaw, about the challenges and opportunities facing our institutions
and the leadership strategies that can position them for a thriving future.

9:30 a.m.

DEPART for Offsite Tours

One of ARL's core values is "operational excellence," which means operating with goals,
values, and processes that are responsive to constituents’ needs, well articulated, fiscally
accountable, ecologically sustainable, and effectively communicated. This also means recruiting
and retaining top talent and prioritizing work of distinctive and unique value to the research
library community and global knowledge ecosystem more broadly.

For this experiential learning opportunity, you will get the chance to visit other industries
and libraries to learn about how they prioritize operational excellence in different contexts.
Following the tours, there will be an interactive discussion and application to our own
institutions.

Transportation to and from the tour venues will be coordinated and details provided
prior to the meeting.

10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

TOUR PARTNERS: 

• Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress
• George Washington University
• Library of Congress
• MGM National Harbor Casino & Hotel
• National Harbor (Management Group)

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

NETWORKING LUNCH

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

New/Interim ARL Member Representatives Lunch
Hosted by the Member Engagement and Outreach Committee [Invitation Only]

1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

AFTERNOON SESSION

1:30 p.m.

Peer-To-Peer Session:
More Than Words—Taking Action Beyond a Land Acknowledgement
Jody Gray

In recent years, land acknowledgments have become a standard practice in many
professional settings, including academic libraries. They are presented before public
events, in email signatures, and on official websites. These acknowledgments are
critiqued for lacking tangible actions. What does it look like to move beyond the words?
This session we will explore this question through storytelling and identify best practices
in developing a land acknowledgment. 

2:35 p.m.

BREAK

2:45 p.m. 

Meaning Making: Sharing Insights on Operational Excellence
Facilitated by ARL Learning + DEI

This session invites participants to collectively process and deepen their understanding
of the tour experiences. Through guided reflection and open dialogue, we will explore
the connections between what we saw, heard, and felt during the tour and our own
work in research libraries. We will examine the implications of these experiences for
advancing operational excellence in our institutions. Participants will have the opportunity
to share their insights, ask questions, and engage in meaningful conversation with colleagues.

4:30 p.m.

Daily Programming Ends

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

EVENING DINNER BOAT CRUISE—NATIONAL HARBOR & POTOMAC RIVER
Sponsored by our partner, EBSCO
Join for the entire 3-hour sailing experience or an optional 1-hour cocktails and
networking dockside mixer, before the National Elite Private Yacht departs
National Harbor, operated by City Cruises. 

This is a limited capacity event. Registration is first come, first serve. No guest passes
are available. 

7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

Breakfast 

9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

MORNING SESSION                                                              

9:00 a.m. 

Morning Welcome

9:05 a.m. 

Relentless Incrementalism: Practicing Critical Hope in Places
of Learning and Research
Kari Grain 

Those working in research institutions and places of learning often articulate that they
are grappling with a “crisis of hope” in relation to several interconnected issues including
the climate crisis, inequality, political polarization, and the many symptoms through which
such a crisis of hope might express itself: high burnout rates, mental health struggles,
cynicism, apathy, overwhelm, and a host of tension points that lead to inaction. The
urgency of this moment highlights the vital role that research library leaders can play in
supporting their communities to cultivate critical hope and practice small acts of
meaningful change. In this talk, Kari Grain will introduce the idea of “critical hope” and
present seven principles of critical hope as a nourishing foundation for leaders within
educational institutions and places of learning. She will then offer the "relentless
incrementalism framework" as a means of practicing critical hope in ways that are
accessible, relational, and sustainable. Critical hope is ultimately a messy entanglement
between the difficult knowledge of the polycrisis facing our learning communities and the
vibrant possibilities that places of learning and research are ideally positioned to bring
into being.

9:50 a.m. 

Leading Through Low-Morale Experiences—Surfacing Shadows &
Activating Critical Hope: A Workshop
Kaetrena Davis-Kendrick

Expanding on the conversation at last year's Fall Meeting, Kaetrena Davis Kendrick will
delve into her continuing research and data collection projects on low-morale experiences
in library workplaces, and center how the phenomenon impacts the health, practice,
and career outlook of formal library leaders. The interactive workshop will include a
review of established and emerging countermeasures, and offer a glimpse into how critical
hope may be adopted and integrated to both slow down the impacts of low-morale
experiences and offer a path to personal and community-driven practices of rest, care, and compassion-based and empathetic leadership.

10:40 a.m.

BREAK

10:55 a.m.

Leading Through Low-Morale Experiences—Surfacing Shadows
& Activating Critical Hope: A Workshop, cont.

12:20 p.m.

Program Closing Remarks 

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

NETWORKING LUNCH 

12:30 p.m. – 1:25 p.m.

Program Strategy Committee Meeting [Invitation Only]

1:30 p.m.– 4:30 p.m.

ARL BUSINESS MEETING [Member Representatives & Proxies] 

4:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Awards Presentation, Closing Remarks, and Meeting Adjourns