The Core Forum will take place October 13-15, 2022 in Salt Lake City, Utah. We are looking forward to getting to meet with our colleagues in Utah, and partnering with the Utah Library Association, Salt Lake City Public Library, and other local groups.
The Utah Library Association (ULA) “is so pleased to welcome Core to Utah, and are very grateful to have this national Forum in our state,” offered Marissa Bischoff, President of ULA. “We are excited for the opportunities our membership will have to connect and learn with respected colleagues from across the country. We invite attendees to explore and enjoy our great local libraries, natural beauty, cultural heritage institutions, and thriving arts and food scene. It’s wonderful to have you with us!”
One particular focus is supporting our members and colleagues in areas where restrictive laws are in place or our members otherwise feel pressure about providing access to information. At the Core Forum in Salt Lake City in October, we will partner with the Utah Library Association to share their success stories for attendees to learn about effective advocacy. We encourage everyone to read their free ebook Utah Libraries: Keystone of Healthy Democracy, Student Success, and Prosperous Communities which provides information on the importance of libraries in Utah and how to support intellectual freedom in Utah libraries. We will make donations to ULA partners Equality Utah, PFLAG Prov/Utah County, and the Utah LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce.
Core leadership supports the importance of libraries in providing information about reproductive rights to their users. On August 9, the ALA Executive Board released a statement “American Library Association (ALA) Condemns Proposed State Legislation Limiting Access to Information on Reproductive Health.” Core members include library workers focused on collection management and matters of library expertise and policy, and the Core board is carefully following these issues.
We recognize that for a variety of reasons our members may be unable or unwilling to travel to events in certain states, or may be unable to travel anywhere. We are committed to providing programming in multiple modalities, and will provide access to the content presented at in-person events in a way that is best suited to virtual attendees, as well as continual opportunities for virtual engagement throughout the year.
Please join us in Salt Lake City this October, or online any time!