2026 CALA Annual Conference

CALA President's Program: Sustaining Excellence: Creative Problem-Solving in Challenging Times
Sunday, June 28, 2026
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CDT
Location: McCormick Place, W 192 A

Moderator(s)
Lei Jin
Associate Dean of Libraries
Toronto Metropolitan University

Presenter(s)
Lian Ruan
Head Librarian
Illinois Fire Service Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Donghua Tao
Professor and Associate Dean, Associate University Librarian for the Health Sciences
University of Illinois Chicago

Shali Zhang
Professor and Dean of Libraries
Auburn University
1-2 pm: CALA President's Program 2026, A Panel

Discussion: Sustaining Excellence: Creative Problem-Solving in Challenging Times
In a time of budget pressures, staffing constraints, and rapidly evolving campus expectations, libraries are being called to find creative solutions. This panel brings together library leaders who will share solutions they have created and tested in response to their current circumstances - from rethinking services and workflows to leveraging partnerships, technology, and community strengths.

CALA Poster Session, Doing More with Less: Practical and Creative Solutions in Libraries
Sunday, June 28, 2026 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM CDT Location: McCormick Place, W 192 A
Direct Link to Share: https://cdmcd.co/d6ywbM
This is a poster session held by Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) with a focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics:
Building Resilient Libraries: Adapting to organizational, technological, and financial change while maintaining core services
Creative Problem-Solving in Practice: Innovative approaches to workflows, services, space, and resource management
Empowering Librarians through Adaptive Leadership: Developing leadership capacity, collaboration, and professional growth in evolving environments
Leveraging Partnerships and Technology: Using collaborations, digital tools, and community strengths to extend library impact