2026 Core Interest Group Week
Interest Group Week happens the first full week of March each year. It consists of 30+ discussions and programs over 5 days, all free and open to everyone. Each session lasts one hour. To attend this event, register for free and you will receive access to the event site. Session Zoom links will be live on the day of the event. Recordings will be available following the event.
View our full list of interest groups that are available to ALA members to join and engage in year-round discussions and activities.
Monday March 2
Leadership and Management Section
Join us to learn more about the Leadership & Management section and how you can be more involved with Core! This is an informational session about the section, come ask questions and find out how you can be more involved!
Member Engagement Coordination Committee
Core Trivia Break Event – Kick off Core Interest Group Week with a trivia contest hosted by the Core Member Engagement Committee. Everyone is welcome to join us and show off your knowledge of library trivia, Core history, and other general facts!
Metadata Interest Group
AI in MarcEdit: Practical Tools for Metadata Work
Curious how AI can support real-world metadata workflows? Join Terry Reese, developer of the widely used, freely available MarcEdit tool, for a focused look at the AI features built into MarcEdit. This session introduces Robo-Pup, an AI-powered metadata generator that processes digital documents and returns structured metadata in multiple formats. Learn how to customize outputs, adjust prompts, and thoughtfully integrate AI-assisted tools into batch cataloging workflows.
New Leaders and Managers Committee
The New Leaders Support Circle is a one-hour virtual space created for new leaders and managers to connect, reflect, and grow together. This session will explore Making the Transition to Management through guided questions to spark honest dialogue and shared problem-solving based on real workplace experiences, followed by an open forum where participants can share their own questions, challenges, or opportunities with the group for feedback and collaboration. Rather than a training, this learning circle is designed to provide new leaders with peer insight, practical strategies, and mutual support in a supportive, low-pressure environment.
Project Management Interest Group
Using Miro templates to create charters
This presentation will show how I used two miro templates to create a project charter and a team charter, plus how we revisited and iterated on our answers at key milestones.
Presenter: Kelly Sattler, Michigan State
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Engage in the present while planning for the future
For the past 2 years, DPI (Digital Programs and Initiatives) at the University of Maryland Libraries completed 5 major projects. DPI manages two digital library applications: one for image/text collections and another for audiovisual collections. Two librarians, collaborating closely with SSDR (Software Systems Development and Research) formed a Digital Collections Scrum unit, working under Agile principles.
Technical Services Workflow Efficiency
The Technical Services Workflow Efficiency Interest Group (TSWEIG) is pleased to host three presentations during Core Interest Group week.
Human-in-the-Loop Automation: Applying APIs, MARCXML, and AI Concepts to Technical Services Workflows
From OCR to MARC: A Governed AI Workflow for Scalable Cataloging Workflows
Documenting Workflows While in Constant Transition
AI & ML in Libraries Interest Group
Come join the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI & ML) Interest Group for a roundtable discussion about how AI & ML has been talked about or approached at your institution. The interest group chair will help guide the discussion and provide attendees with resources about AI/ML broadly, and within the context of libraries and other cultural memory institutions.
Library Consulting Interest Group
Join Us for a Panel Discussion on Library Consulting!
Are you curious about the world of library consulting? Whether you're considering a consulting career or want to learn how to work effectively with consultants, this panel discussion is for you!
Join experienced library consultants as they share their journeys, challenges, and successes in the field. Topics will include:
- How they became library consultants
- Best practices for working with consultants
- Strategies for finding clients
- Insights and advice for those considering consulting
This is a great opportunity to gain valuable knowledge, ask questions, and connect with professionals in the field. Don't miss out!
Faceted Subject Access Interest Group
Join this session for the following presentations:
- Creating order from chaos: aligning terms and facilitating connections with FAST headings and tools
- Faceted Evolution: Practical Strategies for Modernizing Library Metadata
Imagineering Interest Group
Wondering about the newest releases in science fiction, fantasy, and romantasy? Join librarians from across the country as we chat about what we've been reading, what is on our TBRs, and what we are just aching to get our hands on. Bring your own list of favorites to share and listen to others must read picks. This will be an open, free for all discussion. You are free to sit back and jot titles down or add your own recommendations to the mix.
Wednesday March 4
Preservation Section
The Preservation Section Leadership Team will host an information session to introduce the section and highlight current initiatives. Attendees can learn how to join, ways to volunteer, and the range of work we do to support preservation within ALA and across the broader preservation field.
Competencies & Education for a Career in Cataloging Interest Group
We will have 3-4 presentations on topics related to a career in cataloging and the expected competencies.
Library Leaders and Managers Interest Group
We will engage participants in an informal discussion related to asking for help as a leader.
Preservation Administration Interest Group
You've Got Mold! Now What?
Mold can grow on almost anything in a library: a single book, entire stacks, archival collections, AV materials, and objects. Poor environmental conditions or unchecked water damage may be the culprits that provide the perfect conditions for mold to thrive and destroy collections. But after you discover and identify mold in the library, what’s next? In this session, presenters from a variety of institutions will talk about how they’ve handled mold in collections, along with the importance of potential hazards, safe handling methods, and appropriate triage. While all mold situations are different, practical guidance will be offered so you are equipped if and when you find mold in your collections.
Middle Managers Interest Group
Come join us for a discussion about the issues that matter most to you as a library middle manager.
Digital Preservation Interest Group
What does Digital Preservation Look Like? Digital Preservation Implementation at Three Institutions
Digital preservation matters at institutions of every size, but it is certainly not one size fits all! This panel presentation will bring together three presenters from differing institutional contexts: Nikki Koehlert, from the Multnomah County Digital Archives; Carol Kussmann, from the University of Minnesota Libraries; and Christine Wiseman, from the Atlanta University Center. Our speakers will discuss digital preservation at their institutions and what their workflows look like at a high level. This session will be interactive, so bring your questions for the panel!
Thursday March 5
Building & Operations Section
Our community brings together librarians, library workers, and design professionals to analyze, discuss, and share information related to academic, public, and school library buildings, equipment, and furnishings. We share ideas and knowledge to help members stay engaged on changing trends in organizational structures, services, staff operations, and facilities. We also identify and promote adoption of best practices for inclusive practices and design. The section committees and interest groups charges will be reviewed along with upcoming annual conference and Core Forum 2026 ideas for program presentations and future webinars. Audience questions are welcome.
Linked Data Interest Group
Will feature one or more presentations that show the use of linked data in library or GLAM settings.
Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group
We are seeking proposals for presentations about how technical services librarians think about and respond to recent trends at their institutions, in librarianship, or across society. Potential areas to address could include, but are not limited to:
- Artificial intelligence
- Change management in technical services
- Creative uses of vendor services
- Implementations of tools that work with your ILS, such as API-scripts or Cloud Apps
- Unique classification schemes
Consortium Management Interest Group
Innovation lies at the heart of what library consortia do. Innovation is essential yet must be collaborative, impactful, strategic, and at scale. Attend this session to hear from a panel of five US consortium leaders who direct innovative programs in support of member libraries and the communities they serve. These leaders will explain their approaches to innovation and strategy, discuss their innovative programs, and share how libraries benefit as a result.
Bibliographic Conceptual Models Interest Group
Linking Data: Getty’s LOD Transformation
Over the past decade, Getty has been building the infrastructure and expertise to leverage Linked Data across its cross-disciplinary collections, working across archives, libraries, museum collections, taxonomy, and research data sets like the Provenance Index. In doing so, we’ve learned a bunch of things that work—and don’t work—when trying to operationalize semantic graphs. Some of it is technical—how to leverage queries and APIs, how to track changing data, and how to integrate systems and transform data. But even more of it is social—how to build complex data systems with transparency and how to manage the cross-disciplinarity required to effectively create use linked data.
Book & Paper Interest Group
Book and Paper will hold a general session for members to talk about preservation topics directly affecting library collections. There will be a focused discussion on pests and pest management followed by an open discussion session.
E-resource Licensing Interest Group
Enhancing Library Discovery: An Approach to Understanding User Access to Electronic Resources
In recent years, academic libraries have exponentially increased the number of electronic resources they provide for their users, as well as deployed new discovery systems. These changes have expanded the research environment well beyond the traditional library catalog. In this environment, what is the best way for libraries to provide access to the multitude of electronic resources? The presenters will share how they made changes in order to direct users most efficiently, to save staff time, and to contain costs. They will describe a variety of methods used to gather data to support their decision making, including search log analysis, surveys of other institutions, interviews with students, and cross-departmental discussion within the institution to fuel improvements and develop a more deliberate approach for providing access to electronic resources. This presentation is based on a paper published in 2025 in The Journal of Academic Librarianship.
Catalog Management Interest Group
The Catalog Management Interest Group session will feature a series of presentations including:
- Into the Future: Artists’ Books Accessibility and the Implementation of Alma D
- Creating workflows to enhance vendor-supplied records
- Exploring Practical Workflows using the Ex Libris AI Metadata Assistant
- Meeting Your Match in Authority Work
Collection Evaluation and Assessment Interest Group
Open Discussion about how artificial intelligence and LLMs are impacting collection work. Potential topics include:
- Vendor developed and database integrated AI helpers/assistants (how to use/when to turn on), impact to usage, requests vs. investigation trends due to AI use
- License agreements / LLM use / navigating financial impacts
- AI use for collection evaluations
- AI impact on COUNTER and publisher usage reports
Library Storage Interest Group
FETCH: Lifecycle of an open-source system from conceptualization to implementation
MARC Formats Transition Interest Group
Discussion of:
- Transitioning library workflows from MARC
- Experiences with transitioning to or testing BIBFRAME
- Future of metadata standards beyond MARC
- Training and education in BIBFRAME for MARC catalogers
Promoting Preservation Interest Group
Exhibits can be an exciting way to highlight the work of conservators and preservation librarians whose work often happens behind the scenes. If you want to know where to start or get some new ideas for your next exhibit, attend this panel highlighting library exhibits across the country that make preservation their focus. Time will be reserved at the end of the session for the audience to ask questions.
