December 01, 2025

In This Issue:

• Tomorrow! 2025 WRLC Fall Forum
• WRLC Welcomes: New Director of Finance and Administration Haben Ghebremeschel
• WRLC's JSTOR DDA
• Shared Storage White Paper
• CUA Symposium Call for Abstract Submissions
• Gifts that Keep on Giving

Tuesday, December 2nd, 12:00-1:30pm via Zoom

About the Presentation:

Current approaches to information literacy and pedagogy are now insufficient given recent developments in AI. We have assumed relatively stable information ecosystems where authority could traced and creation processes understood—assumptions that AI-generated content undermines. Drawing from Dewey's pragmatism, this talk presents "AI Pragmatism" as a theoretical orientation for information professionals that values practical experimentation, democratic participation, and continuous adaptation (over comprehensive frameworks). Academic librarians are uniquely positioned to lead human-centered AI development on campus by leveraging our strengths in professional ethics, community engagement, and navigating dynamic information environments.

Michael Flierl is the Student Learning Librarian at the Ohio State University. He was recently named OSU’s first AI Faculty Fellow. His scholarship and practice focuses on integrating AI literacy skills into information literacy instruction and aligning AI with librarians’ professional values.

With Tim Connolly’s upcoming retirement after more than a decade of service as WRLC's Director of Finance and Administration, WRLC has hired a new Director of Finance and Administration: Haben Ghebremeschela.

Haben brings over a decade of nonprofit accounting and financial leadership experience, including overseeing full-scale finance operations, leading system migrations, and preparing and presenting strategic financial insights to diverse stakeholders. We’re excited to have Haben join WRLC and look forward to the expertise and steady financial stewardship he will bring to our team. You can contact Haben at <ghebremeschel@wrlc.org>.

For more than a decade, the consortium has relied on its JSTOR Demand Driven Acquisition (DDA) program- our oldest shared agreement and still one of the most successful. While many collection models have shifted over the years, this one has remained remarkably stable, meeting the needs of researchers across all participating libraries.

What makes JSTOR DDA stand out is how naturally it aligns with user behavior. Instead of guessing which books might be needed, DDA lets usage lead the way- itles are triggered for purchase only when researchers show real, measurable interest. This approach ensures that funds go toward materials people are actively using, not just those we hope they might use someday.

And the usage is impressive. Year after year, libraries across the consortium collectively engage with thousands of JSTOR DDA titles, cutting across disciplines and institutions. With more than 5,000 titles purchased through the program so far, the collective demand demonstrates just how valuable this model is to researchers. Whether it’s faculty seeking new scholarship, graduate students diving into specialized areas, or undergraduates exploring foundational topics, the program consistently supports real-world research needs.

The financial value is equally strong. Thanks to the structure of our shared agreement, libraries typically pay less than what they would pay under individual purchasing models. That’s  substantial and ongoing savings- stretching collection budgets further while ensuring deeper coverage and equitable access.

Created as part of the WRLC 2026-29 Strategic Plan, the Facility Utilization Task Force is charged with managing the implementation of partner and committee collection management decisions in the SCF. In addition, the group is working to determine partner storage needs and project options for space utilization in the SCF

As we began to break down these projects, it quickly became clear that our first responsibility was to demystify the state of shared storage at WRLC. If we were going to ask the community about their storage needs they needed to know exactly how much storage was left. If we were to gather opinions on things like deaccessions, respondents needed to have a better picture of what was possible. The white paper linked below and on the WRLC intranet attempts to answer some of those questions.

Our next steps will likely involve a survey and other information collection methods. As these may appear in your email inboxes, please take a moment to read our quick summary of the Shared Collections Facility.  We’ve tried to anticipate questions, but if there’s something you’re not seeing or something you’ve just always wanted to know about the modules in Maryland, please reach out to the task force.

———

Dawn deVillasana, Elizabeth A. Edinger, David Heilbrun, Aaron Krebeck, James Pape, and Matt Smith

The 18th Annual Bridging the Spectrum Symposium on Scholarship and Practice

The Catholic University of America

Pryzbyla Center

March 6, 2026 (Friday)

The Department of Information Sciences at The Catholic University of America invites researchers, practitioners, and students to submit proposals for the 2026 Bridging the Spectrum Symposium, a forum for sharing research findings, innovative professional practices, and works in progress. Now in its 18th year, the Symposium will be an in-person event, with the option for non-presenters to attend sessions remotely on Zoom. More symposium information can be found at: https://lis.catholic.edu/news-events/symposium/index.html

Proceedings (including abstracts and select full-text or full-image presentations and posters) from Bridging the Spectrum symposia are published  in the open-access institutional repository powered by JSTOR. This reflects the symposium’s ongoing commitment to advancing scholarship,  practice, and conversation in the information professions.

We are now accepting abstract submissions for 2026 symposium presentations (250-300 words).

The Symposium will include three types of presentations: individual papers, posters, and panels.

• Individual papers are 15-minute presentations of an innovative practice, project, or research activity.

• Posters are visual representations of a practice, a project, or research findings.

• Panels are one-hour group discussions by several speakers centered on a specific topic, followed by Q&A or interactive engagements.

• Participants may propose their own format, including workshops, un-conference sessions, and so on.

Proposals can be submitted on any topic relevant to library and information science and archival practice or research. Below are some examples (but not an exhaustive list!):

• Community engagement and outreach, including marketing and advocacy for library and information services.

• Services for children and/or young adults in libraries.

• LIS and international migration.

• Reading practices across the lifespan.

• Information services against misinformation and propaganda.

• New developments in information organization (linked data, semantic web, etc.).

• Preservation and management of born-digital and digitized resources.

• Management and analysis of data and information.

• Library networks and international collaboration.

• Technology trends and their impact on information services.

Proposal Submission

Please submit your proposals at the Symposium submission portal.

Before you access the submission portal, please be prepared to enter the following information:

• Your name and affiliation

• Your email

• Your abstract of the required length (250-300 words)

• Technical requirements that will facilitate your presentation

• Accessibility requests if you have any

Important Dates

• Abstract submissions due: December 15, 2025

• Notification of acceptance: January 15, 2026

• Submission of presentation slides and posters for archiving on JSTOR (optional): February 27, 2026.

Please feel free to contact the Symposium Committee at cua-lis-symposium@cua.edu if you have questions.

The Symposium Committee

Maria Mazzenga

Keren Dali

Shane MacDonald

Heather Wiggins

I’m a Librarian Aunt, which means you’re all getting books. So save your wish list for somebody else-  the Subaru is already packed and I’m bringing books! I love receiving them, I love recommending them, and I take book-gifting very seriously. Every year, I wait with bated breath for NPR’s Books We Love, an impressively detailed and thoughtfully curated database of outstanding reads. Over the years it has become my primary guide to holiday gifting.

Most of the featured titles have been highlighted by NPR throughout the year, and the database can be filtered using more than thirty helpful categories such as Staff Picks, Eye-Opening Reads, For Music Lovers, and Tales From Around the World. Last year, I filtered by Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction, and The Dark Side to find a new series for my Star Wars-loving nephew. Now we’re reading them together!

Clicking on any book’s cover leads you to background material- reviews, author interviews, and occasional excerpts- and also provides purchasing options, including links to independent bookstores.- Angelique Carson

What favorite books, media and games will you be gifting this year?

“My significant other is a sucker for 80s nostalgia and Legos so his one gift this year is: The Goonies. And he says that, between the 2 of us, I'm the nerd!?!?!?!”- Jamie Kutzuba

“This wasn't exactly a Christmas gift but it was around Christmas time that I got a Pikachu plushie that I recommend as a classic Pokémon gift. Not to mention nowadays they come in so many cute themes and outfits like this one: POKÉMON × KOGEI: Kimono Pikachu Plush”- Sarah Concepcion

“I use shutterfly.com and make photo books or puzzles using family photos. My parents love these. My dad makes photo frames for us too.” - Katie Puccio

“Favorite board game of myself and friends recently: Magical Athlete Board Game - A Party Game of Pure Racing Chaos. Very easy to learn game, where it's just get to the end of the track, but there's a "pick your character phase" where you’re able to choose which characters/powers you will have each round.  What you and your friends pick can lead to absurd plays and game states that have left us laughing each time.  Game is easy enough to understand for young kids (I'd say at least like Kindergarten) and has enough simple fun baked in that adults can enjoy the chaos.”- Clark Jaenichen

“Barnes & Noble just announced their book of the year and it looks really interesting!  It has 52 masterpieces inside the fold-out dustjacket. Fancy!”- Tammy Hennig

“I once gave someone a signed copy of their favorite YA novel. I just emailed the author outta the blue and asked for it haha.” - Jose Diaz

“In my family, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is mandatory viewing every Christmas. In celebration of our favorite holiday movie, I once gifted my sister matching t-shirts with the iconic movie lines "Why is the carpet all wet Todd?", "I don't know Margot!" We wear them every year!” -Jacqueline Saavedra

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