2025 BC Library Conference

Date

May 7, 2025 15:30 - May 9, 2025 16:00

Location

Nanaimo BC

Details

Website: https://site.pheedloop.com/event/bcla2025/home/

Theme: Navigating Together

The 2025 BC Library Conference will take place May 7-9 at the Vancouver Island Convention Centre in Nanaimo, on the territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Our conference theme is Navigating Together, inspired by the setting – a harbour city on an island – and by the birds that live there. This theme reflects not just the location where we will gather, but how we can navigate our current reality.

Many species of birds choose to travel together on long or dangerous journeys. They do this because it benefits them. When they fly together, they are safer, and they can go further and faster with less effort. They share leadership: when one gets tired, it drops back to rest and another steps up to lead. Different species will even flock together, leveraging their different traits for the benefit of all.

In libraries we are dealing with rapid technological evolution combined with social, economic and environmental challenges and pressures. As we face these challenges, we can benefit from emulating the way birds navigate collectively. During conference you may lead by presenting a session, sharing your strength with colleagues. You will also draw on the strengths of others, attending presentations and learning from your colleagues’ work, and from the different perspectives of those in other kinds of libraries.

We come together for conference not just out of tradition, but out of necessity and opportunity. In a time of rapid change and complex challenges, we navigate better together than we ever could alone.