The first stage of the Call for Papers (CfP) at #CALC27 is now open. The first stage of the CfP is reserved for speakers from groups who experience underrepresentation and/or marginalisation in academia, librarianship and traditional conference programmes. These groups include:
People of Colour/BAME/Global Ethnic Majority/Non-white presenters
People for whom English is an additional language
LGBTQIA+ people
Disabled people
Neurodivergent people
Deaf people
People from Working Class backgrounds
A second, open CfP will open in November 2026.
Session proposals can be submitted using our Stage 1 CfP form. We have produced a guide for writing and submitting an abstract.
Closing date: Friday 20th November 2026.
The conference is planned to take place online in the week commencing 10th May 2027.
The Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference 2026 (#CALC26) took place Tuesday 12th - Thursday 14th May 2026. The conference continues to grow and 2026 included 170 attendees,
We're proud to say that this was our biggest conference yet with over 170 attendees, 40 speakers/contributors, 29 sessions and 19.5 hours of critical library content.
You can find the full details about the conference on our #CALC26 page, including links to session abstracts, recordings, presenter slides and collaborative resources from attendees. Session recordings from 2026 and our archive from previous conferences can also be found on our YouTube channel.
We're a non-profit conference and need to raise funds to deliver the conference to you. If you're able to donate to us, please do so via our Open Collective site.
Darren Flynn and Michelle Bond
Co-organisers - Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference
Get in touch with us at calcconference@gmail.com