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Keynote Speakers

Keynote Speakers

R. David Lankes

Tuesday, October 20
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Death, AI, and Librarianship

In a time of rising social isolation, ideological division, and technological upheaval, libraries stand at a crossroads. Lankes shares thoughts from his new book and delivers a bold, urgent, and deeply human call to action for the library profession. From confronting the rise of book bans and the erosion of intellectual freedom to navigating the ethical minefields of AI, he explores the evolving identity of librarianship in the 21st century and champions the power of storytelling, the necessity of joy in the face of adversity, and the radical inclusion of “feral librarians”—those who enter the profession through unconventional paths but embody its deepest values.

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Against Book Banning: History, Strategy, and Securing Our Freedom to Read

Over the last several years, libraries have emerged as the front lines in cultural clashes over identity, the relationship between citizens and their governments, and the meaning of literacy. While “parents’ rights” groups call for the removal of what they describe as “LGBTQ indoctrination,” some school libraries have culled thousands of books (especially ‘classics’) for their perceived retrograde values. Against this rising tide of censorship, in which would-be censors portray books as sources of “harm” and libraries as sites of contagion, this talk will offer snapshots from the long history of book banning while equipping library professionals with some of the strongest arguments for pushing back. At a moment when literacy itself may be imperilled, and illiberal political forces seek to dictate who can read what, there has never been greater urgency to defend intellectual autonomy and reaffirm our freedom to read.

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Ira Wells

Wednesday, October 21
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R. David Lankes

R. David Lankes is the Virginia & Charles Bowden Professor of Librarianship at the iSchool at University of Texas at Austin. Lankes has always been interested in combining theory and practice to create active research projects that make a difference. His work has been funded by organizations such as The MacArthur Foundation, The Institute for Library and Museum Services, NASA, The U.S. Department of Education, The U.S. Department of Defense, The National Science Foundation, The U.S. State Department, and The American Library Association.

Lankes is a passionate advocate for libraries and their essential role in today’s society earning him the Reference and User Services Association Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award for distinguished contribution to reference librarianship in 2021 and the Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship in 2016. He also seeks to understand how information approaches and technologies can be used to transform industries. In this capacity he has served on advisory boards and study teams in the fields of libraries, telecommunications, education, and transportation including at the National Academies. He has been a visiting fellow at the National Library of Canada, The Harvard School of Education, the French national library school Enssib, and was the first fellow of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy. His book,The Atlas of New Librarianship won the 2012 ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Award for the Best Book in Library Literature.

Ira Wells

Ira Wells was born in Lethbridge, Alberta in 1981. He serves as Academic Programs Director of Victoria College in the University of Toronto and teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and humanities in the Vic One program.

His writing has appeared in The Guardian, The New Republic, The Walrus, The Globe and Mail, Literary Review of Canada, Los Angeles Review of Books, American Quarterly, Popular Music and Society, and many other publications.

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