Events Calendar
Friday, September 04, 2026 at 12:00 PM
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19 RSVPs
Meet The Political Librarian’s Editor-in-Chief: Collaborative Submission Discussion with Allison Jennings-Roche
Join us for a virtual lunch-hour discussion with Allison Jennings-Roche, The Political Librarian’s Editor-in-Chief, on Friday, September 4th at noon ET. This interactive session is your chance to share ideas, ask questions, and get feedback on potential submissions for the next issue. RSVP now to receive a reminder and the Zoom link.
We especially welcome work exploring the intersection of emerging technology and the political challenges and opportunities facing libraries and memory institutions. Artificial intelligence, surveillance, algorithmic bias, paywalls, disinformation, and “enshittification” are just some of the forces reshaping how information is mediated between libraries and memory institutions and the communities that they serve. See our full call for papers for more information.
Bring your ideas, questions, and drafts to this interactive session, where you can run your concepts by the editor, receive feedback, and learn more about the editorial vision for the next issue. Whether you’re a seasoned contributor or considering your first submission, this is a welcoming space to explore themes related to collaboration, advocacy, community engagement, policy, and the evolving role of memory and cultural heritage organizations in shaping the information landscape.
We invite submissions from professionals, educators, researchers, administrators, and stakeholders at all levels working in or allied with information, library, memory, and cultural heritage fields. Topics may include, but are not limited to, shared frameworks, practitioner experiences, communication strategies, law and policy, community engagement, advocacy, and more. This issue will serve as a “big tent” for conversations that will shape the next phase of memory, cultural heritage, and libraries in the United States.
Submissions are encouraged for, but are not limited to, the following areas:
- Research and scholarship about these issues,
- Shared frameworks, politics, ideologies,
- Experiences of practitioners, including wins and losses,
- Communications strategies,
- Points of collaboration,
- Disciplines, communities, frameworks we could learn from, even outside “memory and cultural institutions”,
- Advocacy, Lobbying, and Fundraising,
- Rhetoric and messaging,
- Law and policy,
- Historical context,
- Community engagement,
- Friends organizations and other supporters of memory, library, and cultural heritage institutions,
- Archives, museums, and libraries as pillars of democracy
- Workplace strategies,
- Types of services, and
- Communities served by memory and cultural heritage institutions.
Submissions of complete papers of any length are welcome and should conform to the journal's style and formatting guidelines at the time of submission. Authors are encouraged to review recent issues when preparing their paper. Visit http://www.thepoliticallibrarian.org/
Monday, September 07, 2026 at 12:00 PM
The Political Threats of Vanishing Culture and the Need to Protect Our Future Memory
Join us for these conversations between The Political Librarian’s Editor in Chief Allison Jennings-Roche and some of the authors featured in the recently released new issue of The Political Librarian.
The Political Threats of Vanishing Culture and the Need to Protect Our Future Memory
Monday, September 7th at noon ET
Drawing on perspectives from the Internet Archive and the Our Future Memory movement, speakers Michael Menna and Lila Bailey will discuss the political crisis of “vanishing culture” and the threat of a digital dark age as physical media gives way to digital licensing markets. Join us for a conversation exploring the urgent challenges facing libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage organizations, our society’s "memory institutions" in the digital age.
This session will unpack the critical need for four essential digital rights: collection, preservation, access, and collaboration, to ensure our shared history and knowledge are protected for future generations. This conversation will explore the Statement on Digital Rights for Protecting Memory Institutions Online (2024), which has inspired a growing global coalition, and discover practical steps memory institutions can take to safeguard their roles.
Michael Menna is an outgoing Law and Policy Specialist at the Internet Archive and incoming Visiting Faculty Fellow at the University of Michigan Law School. He received both his PhD and JD from Stanford, after which he clerked for Judge M. Margaret McKeown on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. His academic writing is either published or forthcoming in The Journal of Intellectual Property Law, English Literary History, Early Theatre, PMLA, and Shakespeare Studies.
Lila Bailey is Senior Policy Counsel at the Internet Archive. A seasoned attorney and copyright expert, she leads the library’s policy work.
Monday, September 14, 2026 at 12:00 PM
Where Is 60 Years of Data, Information, and Knowledge One Year After USAID Was Fed “Into the Wood Chipper”?
Join us for these conversations between The Political Librarian’s Editor in Chief Allison Jennings-Roche and some of the authors featured in the recently released new issue of The Political Librarian.
Where Is 60 Years of Data, Information, and Knowledge One Year After USAID Was Fed “Into the Wood Chipper”?
Monday, September 14th at noon ET
Join Tanya Torres and Zachary Baquet for a conversation examining the fate of decades’ worth of data and knowledge following the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in early 2025. Learn how a decentralized network of dedicated individuals, partner organizations, and volunteers mobilized to rescue, preserve, and provide public access to more than sixty years of USAID’s information resources.
This conversation will highlight the USAID Knowledge Rescue effort, which has already captured over 274,000 materials, made 136,000 available to the public, and is actively building a digital repository to safeguard this legacy. Discover the challenges, successes, and ongoing work of this community, including the crucial role played by former USAID partners in ensuring continued access.
Tanya Torres is a former USAID Knowledge Management Team Lead, has earned a Master of Library Science (MLS) degree from the University of Maryland (UMD), and will be a doctoral student in UMD’s Information Science Leadership and Community Engagement (D.Inf.Sci.) program, starting in fall 2026.
Zachary Baquet is a USAID Strategy and Learning Advisor and Acting Division Chief for Analysis, Data, and Learning, and will be a student in UMD’s College of Information’s Master’s in Library and Information Science (MLIS) program starting in fall 2026.