ULA Annual Conference 2026

The Librarian is in! Librarians don't typically provide psychiatric advice, such as Lucy van Pelt from the Peanuts comic strip. However, we do consider the psychological concept of dispositions in our instruction and interactions with patrons. Dispositions are “any of a number of enduring characteristics that describe or determine an individual’s behavior across a variety of situations and that are peculiar to and uniquely expressed by that individual”. The most obvious interaction of dispositions and librarianship can be found in The Framework for Information Literacy. The Framework is the ACRL model for information literacy instruction and contains lists of desirable dispositions to help librarians understand the feelings, attitudes, and behaviors at play during information processes. In this presentation, we explore the role of dispositions in teaching and learning information literacy, illustrated with examples from our recent study on the dispositions practicing nurses displayed while evaluating information. The presentation also examines ways in which librarians may be able to foster productive dispositions to information, its creation, value, and use. The session will end with a brief facilitated discussion on dispositions towards information.

What began as a fun program for the 2018 Summer Reading theme, Libraries Rock, quickly became a staff and patron favorite that transformed throughout the years to cover more summer reading events, the closing of a beloved neighborhood branch, a new library kick-off celebration, National Old Rock Day, and more.

Librarians and Salt Lake County’s biggest library fan will share successes, creative explorations, patron responses, and how we transitioned for the 2020 summer reading and turned a challenge into a community collaboration. We will also share an innovative idea that could bring libraries across the state closer together through music, stories, creativity, education, and laughter.

Providing customer service in libraries unfortunately exposes library workers at times to tense and even hostile interactions. This session will focus on helping library workers to set appropriate boundaries with patrons and to care for themselves during and after those hard moments. By learning to recognize their own symptoms of fight, flight and freeze; to soothe their nervous systems in moments of dysregulation; to embrace curiosity instead of shame about their physical and emotional responses to stress; to talk about problems in ways that help instead of hurt; and to re-establish feelings of safety, library workers can come away from these experiences feeling empowered and better prepared for the next difficult interaction.

Systematic reviews are syntheses of multiple studies on the same topic that meet pre-defined inclusion criteria, thereby increasing confidence in the research findings. Unlike traditional narrative literature reviews, systematic reviews follow an established methodology aimed at minimizing bias and increasing transparency and research reproducibility. When conducted by a team in accordance with established methodology, systematic reviews provide evidence that clinicians, patients, and health consumers can use to make decisions. Although modern systematic review methodology originated in medicine, headed by the Cochrane Collaboration (Our Story, https://www.cochrane.org/about-us/our-story), they are now utilized in many disciplines including nursing, social sciences, education, and environmental studies.

This session will provide an overview of the history, purpose, and strength of systematic reviews and outline their basic methodology. We will provide tips on how librarians and health consumers can locate, access, and evaluate systematic reviews to use in their health (or health care) research and decision-making.

Many of us only think about the importance of strategic communication in times of crisis, but creating a strategy for library communication is a key tool in connecting meaningfully with patrons. In this session, we'll discuss principles and strategies for communicating with patrons on a variety of issues, diving into real-life examples of success (and failure) and discussing the ultimate impact of successful library communication.

A balanced Library collection provides windows, mirrors and sliding doors. However, traditional weeding practices, primarily based on circulation statistics, often erase underrepresented voices. The best way to combat homogenous collections is to perform regular diversity audits!
Michael Biggs and Lexi Johnson have collaborated on auditing SLCPL Collections for diverse authors several times over the years and are ready to share the results of their research and how these audits tied directly into balanced collection management.

This hands-on session introduces a spreadsheet-based tool and suggested practices for auditing your collections for diversity of authors, focusing on race & ethnicity, authors with disabilities, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Bring a laptop to follow along and start your own audit.

In an era of record-low trust in media and the proliferation of "AI slop," many library patrons have moved beyond healthy skepticism into information nihilism—the belief that because some information is biased, no information can be trusted. This shift presents a unique challenge for librarians: How do we teach critical thinking and evaluation skills without accidentally fueling deep-seated cynicism?

Join our panel of experts as we explore the "messiness of expertise" and share actionable coaching strategies to move patrons from the "everything is fake" mindset toward a productive hopeful skepticism. We will discuss:

• Navigating High-Tension Conversations: Strategies for engaging patrons who reject traditional sources of authority.
• Instructional Frameworks: Evaluating the effectiveness of frameworks like SIFT in the age of generative AI.
• Empowerment over Despair: Helping patrons embrace ambiguity and uncertainty without throwing all journalists and scientists "under the bus."
• Cross-Disciplinary Partnerships: Suggestions for leveraging expertise from experts and colleagues to combat both naive acceptance or nihilistic opposition.

Attendees will leave with practical conversation strategies and resources to help their communities reclaim a sense of agency in a complex information landscape.

This panel brings together librarians from academic and public libraries to provide a broad perspective on outreach efforts. We define outreach as connecting with library users outside the physical space of the library or outside the ways that library users typically interact with the library. As such, outreach is a huge undertaking. In this panel we will focus on how building connections and working relationships with individuals, organizations, and groups both within and outside the library is central to successful outreach efforts. Attendees at the panel will gain practical tips for who to partner with and how to begin and strengthen those working relationships.