Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference 

Save the Date: 14-15th May 2025

The provisional date for CALC25 is Wednesday 14th - Thursday 15th May 2025, to be held online. 

CALC CfP Stage 2 now open! Plus keynote speaker announcement.

We're pleased to share that the second stage of the Critical Approaches to Libraries 2025 (CALC25) call for papers is now open. This is an open call for papers so anyone can submit a proposal.

We welcome research, discussions, exchanges of experience and project reports. If you or your library have work or perspectives to share around equity, decolonisation, critical information literacy, working with underrepresented or marginalised communities or anything else relating to critical practice we'd love to hear about it. 

The deadline for our Stage 2 CfP is Thursday 28th November at 23.59, GMT.

More details, a guide to writing proposals and a form to submit session proposals can be found on the Call for Papers page of our website.

If you have any questions, queries or want to discuss a potential session before submitting please get in touch via our conference email: calcconference@gmail.com   

**Keynote announcement**

We're delighted to share our first confirmed keynote speaker. Sacha Coward (he/him) is a freelance museum and heritage professional. His work centres on creating social change and justice through innovative and inclusive programming in regional, national and international GLAM settings. His latest book Queer as Folklore, a Sunday Times bestseller, is out now. You can find out more about Sacha's work on his website: https://www.sachacoward.com/

Tickets for the conference will be on sale in early 2025.

***Announcement***

Here at CALC (Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference) are always looking for new ways to connect people to ideas around critical librarianship. We started with our annual conference, followed by webinars, and now we are embarking on a new endeavour – CALC Quarterly.

CALC Quarterly is a journal/newsletter which aims to give folks the space to share ideas and experiences around critical librarianship in a formal or informal way.  As with the conference itself, we strive to be inclusive and accessible to all with a commitment to give a platform for a diverse range of voices and experiences. 

We're looking for contributions for our first issue, with the suggested prompt of: ‘What does CALC and/or critical librarianship mean to you?’.

More information on formats and how to submit work can be found on the CALC Quarterly submissions page: https://calcquarterly.org/submissions.

***End of announcement***

CALC23 took place in May 2023 - session recordings are 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