The American Library Association (ALA) invites education programs and posters for the ALA 2026 Annual Conference & Exhibition, June 25–29, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois—a milestone event marking ALA’s 150th Anniversary. The Annual Conference explores key challenges and opportunities facing libraries, with professional development rooted in timely research, innovation, and best practices. For the 2026 conference, proposals are welcome from a broad variety of perspectives that celebrate, commemorate, or educate about the impact that ALA and our affiliate partners have made on the profession and on libraries nationally and internationally over the last 150 years – or will make in the next 150 years. The proposal may include lessons learned along the way.
The submission sites are open now through September 22, 2025.
Education program proposals and poster proposals have the same key dates, noted below, but separate submission sites, submission guides and rubrics.
Education program proposals: Consult the education program proposal submission guide for programmatic priorities and step-by-step instructions on submitting a program proposal and the education program proposal rubric for evaluation criteria and scoring. View the education program proposal submission video for a walkthrough of the program submission site and process. Education programs are 60 minutes in length, which may include 10-15 minutes of Q & A. There are nine proposal juries to choose from when submitting a proposal: one of ALA’s eight Divisions or the ALA jury (which includes representation from Round Tables, Offices, and Affiliates).
Poster proposals: Consult the poster proposal submission guide for details on the poster categories and step-by-step instructions on submitting a poster proposal and the poster proposal rubric for evaluation criteria and scoring. View the poster proposal submission video for a walkthrough of the poster submission site and process.
Poster sessions include six poster categories, and poster presenters share their posters as part of a 90-minute session.
Both submission sites will close on Monday, September 22 at 11:59PM Eastern.
ALA is unable to accept late proposals.
Key Dates:
- Submission sites open: August 18, 2025
- Submission sites close: September 22, 2025, at 11:59pm Eastern
- Notifications: December 2025
For more information, please visit the ALA 2026 Annual Conference website. Follow us on Bluesky, Instagram, and our hashtag #ALAAC26.
