On July 15-18, 2024, Rose Beranis and Benny Bauer attended the IDEAL Conference (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility in Libraries & Archives) in Toronto, and it was fantastic! With over 200 speakers and presenters covering a broad range of topics, the sessions and workshops were so engaging that it was a challenge to decide which ones to attend due to the overlaps. To help choose your sessions, you could sort by “Track,” of which they had several areas of focus: Accessibility, Antioppression, Archives, Centering Marginalized Experiences, Collections, Community, Data Management, Leadership, Strategic Planning and Policymaking, Sustainable Practices. It was great to see how much DEI is woven through all aspects of our work as librarians.
The keynote speaker was particularly inspiring, setting a powerful tone for the entire conference. The workshops were so popular that they had to make room for additional seating so folks wouldn’t be turned away due to lack of space. Other than great sessions, the conference also offered lots of opportunities to network. During meals, break times, and community group meet-ups, we had chances to meet new colleagues and reconnect with familiar faces, including old coworkers we didn’t expect to run into and Dr. Kawanna Bright, who is part of the Oberlin DEI Audit Pilot project that we’re actively working on! It was a joy to connect with so many librarians and archivists across the US and Canada.
The first night also included the IDEALfest, which was incredible. There was great food, zine-making, button making, a photo booth, Plinko, coloring, an ice cream bar, a live band playing 80s music, and a drag story hour! Rose even won the first raffle prize awarded at IDEALfest. It was quite the shindig.
Overall, this conference was the most diverse one we have ever attended, in content and in attendance (and had a sensory bar, which we will recommend for all future functions). We hope to attend more like it!