March 30, 2026

In This Issue:

• WRLC Town Hall Tour Begins This Week!
• 2026 WRLC Spring Forum
• 2026 Annual Meeting Call for Proposals

This April, WRLC will host a series of in-person Town Hall sessions at six member libraries to discuss how the consortium can expand support for Alma and the work of library staff across WRLC institutions.

These town halls are an opportunity for WRLC staff and library colleagues to discuss how we can strengthen communication across the consortium, identify ways WRLC can better support member libraries, and learn more about the needs and challenges libraries are experiencing locally.

As part of the conversation, we will introduce Library Open Workflows (LibOW) and explore how it can support shared workflow improvements across WRLC libraries. Many staff already manage complex processes every day, and LibOW provides one way to transform those practices into automated solutions that could benefit colleagues across institutions.

Staff are welcome to attend any of the six Town Hall sessions, regardless of their home institution. We encourage staff to attend the session that best fits their schedule and connect with colleagues at other WRLC libraries if their own institution is not hosting a session.

Town Hall Schedule

• George Washington University — April 2, 2026 | 10:00–11:30 AM

• Georgetown University — April 6, 2026 | 10:00–11:30 AM

• Catholic University — April 9, 2026 | 10:30 AM–12:00 PM

• University of the District of Columbia — April 13, 2026 | 1:30–3:00 PM

• George Mason University (Antonin Scalia Law School) — April 15, 2026 | 1:30–3:00 PM

• American University — April 16, 2026 | 1:00–2:30 PM

Please register for a session here: WRLC Town Hall Session Registration. Registering helps event organizers ensure that necessary resources are available at each location.

WRLC Town Hall Tour Locations: How to Get There

Apr 22, 2026 at 12:00pm

Meeting Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/25725038449902?p=1c1l7zw7l75RTb2EvZ

This year’s program will highlight three presentations on initiatives and tools that support our work across the consortium:

OpenAthens: Perspectives on Implementation and Post-Implementation

Brie McDonald (GW), John Kimbrough (GT), Shanyun Zhang (CU)

OpenAthens is a federated authentication solution in use by some WRLC institutions. It enables access to licensed electronic resources via campus authentication rather than relying on geographic or IP-based access. The session will cover current implementation status, benefits for users and administrators, and future decisions.

Primo Research Assistant

Shane Hickey (AU)

The Research Assistant is an AI-enhanced discovery feature that provides topic overviews and contextual summaries drawn from indexed library resources. The session will demonstrate how this tool can enhance discovery while focusing on authoritative, licensed content.

Alma Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Resource Sharing

Jessica Bowdoin (GM), Glenn Canner (GW), Angelique Carson (WRLC),

Alma P2P enables direct borrowing and lending between participating Alma libraries, streamlining request workflows and reducing reliance on intermediary systems. The presentation will discuss how this functionality improves turnaround times and improves resource sharing across the consortium.

We look forward to seeing you there!

- WRLC Sharing Expertise Committee

We are looking forward to seeing you at this year’s WRLC Annual Meeting. This year’s annual meeting theme is “Resilient Together”. Currently, we are assembling the agenda filled with informative presentations, interactive discussions, and a keynote event. Each session is designed to encourage active participation and facilitate dialogue among attendees.
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Share Your Knowledge as a Presenter
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If you are interested in presenting at this year’s Annual Meeting, please fill out the form below to submit your proposal. This year, we will feature 20-minute presentations with 5 minutes for questions. We believe this shorter format will encourage greater participation, promote discussion, and allow us to showcase a wider array of topics and perspectives.
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Possible presentation topics include (but not limited to):
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• Harnessing people/collaboration

• Rethinking Library Technology at Scale

• Shared Systems, Shared Strength

• Digital Equity

• Implementing sustainability
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We look forward to your contributions and are eager to see what you’ll bring to this year’s event.

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Please submit your proposals by April 27th.
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See you in May!

Contribute to the Newsletter

The WRLC Newsletter serves as a platform to showcase the achievements and activities of our consortium members. We invite you to submit news items, announcements, or program highlights for inclusion in upcoming issues. Your contributions help ensure the newsletter reflects our collective work across the consortium.

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