NCLA Con 2025

The Roundtable for Ethnic and Minority Concerns (REMCo) pays homage to Hip Hop through the exploration of its impact on librarianship. Join our session, Blackademia and Hip-Hop Culture, for a dynamic conversation amongst library scholars and Hip-Hop enthusiasts as they delve into how the music has influenced community engagement and outreach to reach larger audiences, bring awareness to library programming, and make organic connections with their communities. Featured Librarians from interviews: Forest Foster, Vivette White, Carlos Grooms, Candace Jacobs, Jonathan Jones, Billy Allen, Marcellaus Joiner. Background and Rationale: Hip-hop, as a cultural movement, has extended far beyond music to become a powerful tool for education, social commentary, and community building. Libraries, as hubs of knowledge and culture, have increasingly embraced Hip Hop to engage youth, diversify programming, and promote literacy. This documentary series will showcase how librarians across North Carolina have incorporated elements of Hip Hop-including DJing, MCing, graffiti art, breakdancing, and knowledge sharing-to connect with diverse communities. Format: This will be a 45-minute panel presentation that will include various short clips from REMCo interviews, followed by a facilitated panel discussion featuring library scholars. The session will encourage dialogue about the power of Hip-Hop to engage participants, promote social justice, and support lifelong learning. Intended Audience: This presentation will appeal to librarians, educators, youth program coordinators, and cultural workers interested in rejuvenating their outreach strategies, including intentional connections with underserved populations by, and exploring innovative approaches to literacy and cultural engagement. Conclusion: Blackademia and Hip-Hop Culture will not only highlight the dynamic relationship between Hip Hop and libraries but also inspire the library community to embrace this influential cultural movement as a means of empowerment, education, and creative expression.

Entering a difficult job market fresh out of library school can feel like being dropped into a foreign land. In our panel discussion, we will share how our LIS education prepared us for library jobs, but also how choosing a specialization such as business or pursuing generalist roles impacted the way we approached networking, selecting mentors, and finding career opportunities. Library school may have started us on the path, but finding mentorship within these specialties is where we found our true sense of direction in navigating the academic and professional space. We are going to further discuss how it led us to making professional connections through workshops and conferences as library students and early career librarians. These experiences have proven valuable to our panel as Ben acquired a business liaison position six months after graduation and Elizabeth became an instruction and research services librarian prior to graduation. We also plan to dive into what it has been like adapting to the current political and economic uncertainty surrounding higher education and academic spaces while starting off our careers. This panel will offer insights to library school students and seasoned professionals looking to support new librarians. In addition to answering questions moderated by Nancy Lovas (Entrepreneurship & Business Librarian at UNC Chapel Hill), there will be time set aside at the end to respond to questions from the audience and hear from them about their own experiences with mentoring, difficult job markets, and uncertainty for the academic space. 

Librarians are no longer just caretakers of books-they're digital architects, advocates, marketers, and community leaders. In this session, we'll explore how the librarians behind the Read Free NC website took on new roles to create a platform that supports library workers facing censorship and promotes intellectual freedom in North Carolina. Through the process of designing and promoting the website, we'll highlight the innovative ways librarians are adapting to meet the demands of advocacy and community outreach. From website design and blog writing to social media marketing and grassroots advocacy, librarians are leading the charge in defending the right to read. Attendees will learn how to leverage digital tools to build platforms that support advocacy efforts and enhance their libraries' public presence. We'll discuss strategies for stepping into new roles, overcoming challenges, and turning digital projects into powerful engines for change. This session is perfect for librarians looking to expand their skill sets and make an impact beyond traditional library services.

This panel discussion will present a designers perspective on developing spaces that connect users with information beyond the identity of just books. While books are important of course the contemporary library user is looking for more in terms of knowledge creation and experiences. This panel will share experiences related to building for community, with Project Grace at New Hanover County, which enhances learning by showcasing library resources with museum exhibits and artifacts. Also discussed will be the importance of adding design features for partners that support the library's mission and creative abilities. Finally, a look at how a library's identity for the stakeholders has moved beyond books but includes societal elements related to Creativity and Play, Health and Well-Being, Belonging and forming Connections with Nature. The panel will consist of a public library director that is leading the strategy behind the mix-use facility being built which will create new synergy in services and enhance the visitor's experience. This connects to a partnership model used in all libraries to bring to primary stakeholders an assortment of transformative experiences and enhancements from traditional spaces. The panel will also feature an architect who works with all library types to design spaces that accommodate partners in a setting that allows stakeholder engagement and seamless integration of services. This panel will also feature an academic perspective on space design with related consideration for the broadening needs of students. Students, not unlike community patrons, are looking for consolidated service options (partnerships), spaces to engage with information resources that also promote and enhance well-being, creativity and innovation through creative design. The panel agenda will be to present elements or features of renovation or building plans that look forward to user needs. There will be a design response as to its background and reasons for being important for consideration beyond present day. Examples would be showing museum exhibit space adjacent to library spaces with an explanation as to how that adjacency benefits the stakeholders or designing a "Hub" space for students to provide relaxation options with an explanation as to why this fosters student success. Makerspaces will be another item on the table for discussion as their service model has become more diverse over time and in some cases is projected to grow and expand needed footprint.This panel will self moderate and present emerging trend topics and then response before moving to next topic.

A speech John F. Kennedy was scheduled to deliver on November 22, 1963, included this quote: "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." But many librarians stumble unprepared into leadership positions with no preparation. Early-career librarians who aspire to leadership positions can better prepare themselves for these roles by developing their skills before an opportunity presents itself. This panel will give leaders from various types of libraries the opportunity to discuss their leadership journey, what they wish they had known when they were starting out, the lessons they learned along the way, and their hopes for the next generation of library leaders. Session attendees will also have the opportunity to ask their own questions of the panelists.

Library school provides a foundation, but true education begins in the field. Join us for an open and honest dialogue with library professionals as they discuss the skills, knowledge, and perspectives they learned after library school. This session offers a unique opportunity to learn from recent graduates and build connections and networks. This is part of the NMRT student track.

As archivists and curators of special collections, we encounter items and collections that give us pause. Whether it is an artifact that has preservation/conservation issues, a collection with politically or culturally charged language, digitized or born digital materials that present access and management problems, or even physical or online storage challenges, these issues cause us to pause and explore how to best handle each individual circumstance, incorporating imaginative methodologies, along with best practices, to ensure the safety, longevity, and fair use of our collections. Panelists will discuss their experiences stewarding complex and niche collections, including challenges and opportunities they have confronted, and their approaches to dealing with them. Preservation, intellectual control, legal, and ethical concerns will all be discussed. There will also be time for audience members to share their own stories of archival challenges and how they were met.

In efforts to build a sustainable partnership between Winston-Salem's Crossnore Communities for Children, Wake Forest University's (WFU) Z. Smith Reynolds (ZSR) Library is welcoming new students to Anderson Academy, Crossnore's public charter school opening in August 2025 with the Welcome! Back to School Project. The event consists of two components: a book drive establishing start-up classroom libraries and a back to school event promoting fellowship among students and teachers. This project was made possible by grant funding and institutional commitments to cultivating community partnerships. Anderson Academy's 2025 enrollment model includes K-4 students in the foster care system and who have experienced some form of abuse or adversity. The curriculum takes a holistic approach to trauma-informed care and commits to building safe and dependable environments for this inherently unique student body. Anderson will not have a media center in its first years of operation, so this project will make a significant impact to the potential literacy development for new students. The International Literacy Association recommends school libraries provide a minimum of 20 books per child for both in-class and at-home use. Grant funding and an accompanying book drive is intended to provide 500 books amounting to nearly 25% of the recommended number of books in Anderson classroom libraries before the first day of classes. The project will culminate with a Welcome! Back to School party celebrating new students, administrators, and faculty with food, activities, and gifts. During the party, students will not only be introduced to their classroom libraries, they will also receive a new backpack to start their school year. The party will take place at Anderson Academy prior to the first day of classes and provide a great opportunity to connect students with teachers in an informal and festive format. Several partnerships and funding opportunities are making the project possible. First the ZSR Innovation Grant and the WFU Center for Literacy Engagement's (CLE) Diverse Book Grant are funding the purchase of 250 books as well as party supplies and giveaways. Second, ZSR employees and WFU student organizations are donating books as outlined by an age- and culturally-appropriate book title list developed by WFU's children's librarian. Donation choices are facilitated by local and independent bookseller Squarespace store development with discounted purchasing options. Lastly, employees can donate cash through Venmo or PayPal applications. Beyond building a relationship with our nextdoor neighbor, the intent with this project is to create multidisciplinary partnership opportunities between Anderson Academy, ZSR, and ultimately WFU. Potential future engagement endeavors can include instructional sessions, student mentoring and tutoring programs, and campus and library tours all in the effort to support ZSR's commitment to literacy development, Crossnore's mission to facilitate healthy futures for children and families, and WFU's guiding philosophy of "pro humanite". This panel session intends to include key partners from ZSR, Anderson Academy, and WFU responsible for the project's success. By the time of this session, specific project outcomes will be available including book drive and student participation metrics.