Update: Library Assessment Conference

[Library Assessment Conference (ARL)]

Dear LAC Community Members,

I’m writing with an update on the status of ARL and partner planning for the 2026 Library Assessment Conference (LAC). As you know, the University of Washington recently brought a close to their partnership with ARL for this event in advance of any planning for LAC 2026. In February, ARL issued a call for expressions of interest (EOI) seeking future partners. This EOI call generated some moderate interest that was not, in the end, meaningfully fruitful.

ARL is also keenly aware of the budgetary and in-person professional development hardships that many, many libraries are facing. To address these challenges, ARL staff and the Board have been discussing contingency plans for ARL’s public-facing library community events and meetings—ARL Institutes, the Library Assessment Conference (LAC), and the IDEAL Conference. But we’re also struck by the impact that these meetings have had. The assessment community continues to make an impact; the work of assessment helps define the impact of libraries, educators, and researchers.

This led the ARL Board and staff to take a step back and assess ARL’s public events, not just from the perspective of budgetary concerns and timing, but from the position of strength that the assessment community has built over the years. In essence, these discussions have focused on ways to capitalize on the success and popularity of events like LAC and IDEAL, while being mindful of the expense and time commitments required for multiple meetings across the library community.

In consultation with community stakeholders and the Board, we’re excited to report that we’ve decided to transition from hosting two standalone, topical conferences—IDEAL and the Library Assessment Conference (LAC)—to one biennial, multi-track conference experience showcasing the impact of research libraries: the IMPACT Summit, to launch in 2028.

IMPACT: Research Library Summit will build on the popular success and devoted audiences of both LAC and IDEAL and incorporate their subject focus, while expanding to include the full range of ARL priorities: advocacy and public policy, sustainability, academic freedom, inclusiveness and equity, scholarly communication, research analytics, and operational excellence in research libraries. As a result of this consolidation, ARL will focus its attention on a single public offering for research library deans and directors, senior leaders and staff, and others looking for rich content for research libraries.

Of course, this means that ARL will not be planning a Library Assessment Conference in 2026. But it also means that ARL will be planning for even richer and more widely accessible peer-reviewed content for IMPACT 2028. And we could not have done any of this without the support and devoted following of the library assessment community. The critical peer review, planning, and rich content of those meetings have provided a blueprint for future planning.

IMPACT: Research Library Summit will launch in the summer of 2028, giving us a critical planning runway. IMPACT 2028 is intended to shape and influence the role of libraries in the research enterprise and align ARL’s organizational strategy and values with an action plan for libraries. With a peer-reviewed program and a team of organizers from ARL member libraries, the summit will convene in even-numbered years to provide the capacity necessary for planning and to avoid competing with our partners. This new offering creates more coherence for the Association, bringing unity, clarity, soundness, and organization to how ARL supports learning in the broader research library community.

 

This is a lot of new information! It’s not always easy to convey months of conversations, feedback from stakeholders, and discernment in a brief message. But we’re only at the beginning of planning for IMPACT 2028, and you will hear a lot more about it in the months to come. I’m pleased that this new conference experience brings more coherence and logic to the kind of offerings that ARL can provide to the research library community, while maintaining the history and strength that the library assessment community has built over several years of professional convenings.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

All the best,
 
Andrew K. Pace
ARL Executive Director
and...@arl.org
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