PROGRAM

Critique As Optimism: Reiminaging Information

Teresa Helena Moreno, Assistant Professor, Richard J. Daley Library, University of Illinois Chicago

In an information climate that is increasingly precarious, where do we find hope in how we continue to make information accessible? How can the field buttress the work of access to information by using critical theories for optimism? How can we use forms of critique that allow us to rethink, reframe, and rebuild what information access and information literacy look like? Drawing on multiple lines of inquiry, this interdisciplinary talk challenges some of the dominant practices of the field, including the dominant ideas of information and how we teach, by invoking the history of suppression and censorship of information. Learning from the past, counternarratives, and critical inquiry, this talk invites us to consider new pathways to reimagine access and information literacy in order to enact the goals of our profession.

Banishing Cynicism and Building Trust: Survival Lessons through Community-Oriented Instructional Programming - Roundtable Discussion [2032]

Claressa Slaughter Education and Curriculum Librarian, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

Zohra Saulat, Student Success Librarian, Lake Forest College

Abigail Mann, Digital Scholarship Librarian, Illinois Wesleyan University

Angelina Santana-Torres, Research Librarian, City Colleges of Chicago

Using themes as lessons learned throughout a year of professional development and instructional programming, members of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries of Illinois (CARLI) Instruction Committee invite participants to move beyond cynicism towards methods of building trust. Participants will explore how we can participate in communities, restructure meeting agendas, and use critical reflection to foster survival. Together, we will examine our responsibility in defining information literacy amidst shifting mediums, leaving with actionable practices to nurture both pedagogical authority and collective trust.

Page Against the Machine: Archival Literacy, Artificial Intelligence, and Defying the Inevitable  [3030]

Bradley J. Wiles, Associate Professor and Head of Special Collections and Archives, Northern Illinois University Libraries

This session discusses archival literacy as a metaliteracy that can be used in helping students develop critical faculties beyond source analysis. To illustrate this, the presentation will detail an ongoing collaboration between library and academic faculty at Northern Illinois University that features a semester-long archival research project as its primary activity and deliverable. This session is for librarians interested in creating impactful learning activities and approaching information literacy as a bulwark against AI pervasiveness.

Beyond the Fact Check: Teaching Information Literacy as Environmental Design, Not Individual Willpower  [3031]

Mandi Goodsett, Performing Arts & Humanities Librarian, Cleveland State University

This session explores the limits of willpower-based source evaluation in an age of engineered persuasion. While fact-checking strategies have value, features of current information contexts limit their effectiveness. Learn how to pivot your library instruction toward environmental design, structural critique, and digital agency, empowering students to change their information diets and combat cynicism.

The Work of Equity: Library Resources and Strategies to Support and Empower English Language Learners [3018]

Becky Reece, Reference & Instruction Librarian, College of DuPage

Megan Flaherty, Reference & Instruction Librarian, College of DuPage

Access is the labor required to ensure that no learner is left behind. For English Language Learners (ELLs), the path to information is frequently obstructed by structural barriers, linguistic bias, and a lack of institutional knowledge. By deconstructing these hurdles, we move beyond passive service toward a model of advocacy that prioritizes equity over equality to sustain long-term student success. This session examines the College of DuPage Library’s framework for supporting the English Language Acquisition (ELA) program, demonstrating how intentional library intervention transforms the student experience. 

Authenticity First Aid: Strategies for Leading with Care not Advice

Heidi Anoszko, Instructional Design Librarian, UWM

Sometimes Librarians’ desire to be useful can get in the way when we’re helping users. We have so many resources and tools to share in so little time, but all that pressure can take away from the strength of library public services: people connecting through curiosity. If you’ve ever had anxiety about whether students liked you, were really listening, or if your help was actually helping, this short presentation is a chance to step back and affirm the value you bring to your library (and community) beyond the skills and tools you can teach. 

Teaching Faculty Skepticism about Generative AI 

Maxwell Gray, Digital Scholarship Librarian, Raynor Library, Marquette University

Over the past two years, I have collaborated with colleagues at Marquette’s Center for Teaching and Learning to provide a variety of professional development opportunities for faculty and other instructors regarding generative AI and teaching and learning. In this lightning talk, I will share this work in progress and some successes so far. Attendees should expect to take away from this lightening talk: strategies/tactics for collaborating with colleagues on campus outside the library and themes/topics for designing professional development sessions for faculty and other instructors in higher education.

Who? How? And Who’s Watching?: A Digestible Credibility Framework for First-Year Composition

Morell Old, Clinical Assistant Professor/Digital Instruction Librarian, University of Illinois Springfield

Who created this, and do they know what they’re talking about? How do they know what they’re claiming to know? And what systems are in place to catch mistakes? These three questions guide a framework for establishing credibility that can help first-year composition students assess traditionally published sources, web sources, and content generated by AI while acknowledging the equity issues in traditional measures of authority. 

The Seven Citation Mystery: A Citation Detective Activity

Trix Welch, Student Success Librarian, Rockford University

"The Seven Citation Mystery" is a role-playing detective activity where students investigate a fabricated research article claiming to have undeniable proof that giants once roamed Illinois. Designed to be adaptable for both one-shot sessions and for-credit information literacy course lessons, this engaging activity directly addresses the growing problem of students citing AI-generated sources. Students will develop critical source evaluation skills, learn to recognize fabricated citations, and gain a healthy skepticism of algorithmic authority through hands-on investigation. 

Surviving the Information Hellscape: How a Community of Practice Fosters Faculty Engagement, Resilience, and Connection

Bekky Vrabel, Research Support & Liaison Librarian, University of Minnesota Duluth

Hannah Jones, Information Literacy Librarian, University of Minnesota Duluth

Three librarians and a philosopher received grant funding to develop an Information Literacy Community of Practice at the University of Minnesota Duluth that sought to encourage faculty to incorporate information literacy concepts across the curriculum and empower partnerships between instructors and librarians. This lightning talk will provide an overview of the initiative, how faculty engaged with the Community of Practice, and demonstrate how to foster resilience and community during difficult times.

Between Hype and Panic: Librarians Leading Nuanced Conversations about AI [2032]

Holly Reiter, Head of Research and Teaching, Saint Louis University

Denise Chappell, Social Sciences Librarian, Saint Louis University

Alex Mosakowski, Arts & Humanities Librarian, Saint Louis University

This panel explores how academic libraries can lead nuanced, community-centered conversations about artificial intelligence, moving beyond hype or fear. Three librarians will share perspectives on AI’s influence in teaching, research, and collections, highlighting its potential benefits and risks. Through discussion and dialogue, attendees will gain practical strategies for framing AI as a topic of critical inquiry and ethical reflection, connecting it to core information literacy themes such as bias, authority, and evaluation in an evolving technological landscape.

What Does it Mean to Be AI Literate? Designing a Course that Prepares Students for Uncertainty, not Expertise  [3030]

Sarah Leeman, Associate Professor/Teaching & Learning Librarian, National Louis University

Amy Hall, Associate Professor/Teaching & Learning Librarian, National Louis University

As generative AI tools reshape higher education, institutions often focus on use without a shared understanding of what it means to be AI literate. This session describes how two academic librarians developed an online undergraduate Foundations of AI Literacy course grounded in information literacy principles. Designed for non-technical learners, the course emphasizes critical evaluation, ethical reasoning, and uncertainty rather than tool proficiency. Presenters will share learning outcomes, instructional strategies, and assignments that cultivate informed skepticism and support libraries’ roles as leaders in campus-wide AI education.

A Gap and a Bridge: Immigrant, Refugee, and Asylum-Seeking Students and Community College Libraries  [3031]

Sara Klein, Librarian, Truman College 

Immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking students have unique information needs. Despite this, and despite their rapidly increasing presence in higher education due to the global refugee crisis, there is little research on their specific information-seeking behaviors or their engagement with academic libraries. This is particularly important in relation to community colleges, where many enroll in Adult Education courses such as ESL. Comparatively, Truman College has a much larger population of these students than many other community colleges. This situation offers opportunities for Truman librarians to learn from immigrant students themselves about their information needs, to improve services going forward. 

Rethinking Authority: Critical Engagement with Government Tools and Sources  [3018]

Claire Dinkelman, Student Success Librarian, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Anna Grau Schmidt, Music and Performing Arts Librarian, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Government tools and sources are among the resources new college students identify as most reliable, and offer a test case for teaching students in both general education and disciplinary courses to be skeptical but not cynical. This session will describe how a music/fine arts librarian and a student success librarian approach critical information literacy related to government tools and sources for first-year students. Participants will have time to reflect on their own instruction and outline strategies to incorporate critical information literacy into either general education or discipline specific instruction. 

Library Supported Learning for Contextualized Inquiry and Knowledge Growth: A Reflection on Beginnings

Alecia D. Barbour, Research, Learning, and User Support Librarian, University of Wisconsin-Superior

The year has seen my beginning attempts to situate frameworks of Cultural Humility (Hurley, Kostelecky, & Townsend, 2022) and Knowledge Justice (Campbell & Sich, 2023) for instructional approaches in an academic library. This is alongside ongoing library outreach to instructors attending to processes and technologies of scholarly communications. One aim is to connect these information flows to build a foundation in support of inquiry and engagement with broadly inclusive and equitable representations, knowledge frameworks, and information pathways. In this moment, actual deployments represent tiny shifts. This session will reflect on and share some specific attempts, successes, failures, and next steps. 

Efficiency at the Cost of Authority: TILT-ing AI Literacy Instruction

Brooke Gross, Health Sciences Librarian, Western Kentucky University

This lightning talk will give attendees a brief insight to the importance of transparency in AI literacy instruction as well as outline ways in which we can engage in these conversations with patrons whose perspectives on this technology may differ wildly. The speaker, an Instruction and Outreach Librarian who served on ACRL's AI Competencies for Library Workers Task Force, will discuss why using AI has the potential to devalue or undermine authority and how AI literacy basics can be taught in a way that positions librarians or educators as neutral but knowledgeable partners in this ever-changing field.

This Presentation is Banned: Resistance-Themed Engagement with the ACRL Information Literacy Framework for Banned Books Week

Nessa Vahedian Khezerlou, Reference & Instruction Librarian, Joliet Junior College

Jessica Clanton, Reference & Instruction Librarian, Joliet Junior College

Transform Banned Books Week from passive displays to active resistance. Our "Censorship is so 1984" program used guerrilla marketing, an underground screening, and hands-on activities to engage with the ACRL Framework concepts. Learn replicable strategies for making abstract information literacy tangible while moving students from cynical observers to informed participants.  

Raising the Search Bar: Teaching Information Literacy One Podcast at a Time

Callie Martindale, MLS Student, Indiana University Bloomington

Podcasting offers libraries a transformative way to engage students in information literacy through approachable, conversational formats that foster authentic dialogue and community. This lightning talk highlights the creation of The Search Bar, an interview-based podcast developed through an information literacy fellowship at a large academic research library. Attendees will learn how podcasting can humanize research challenges, promote underutilized resources, and amplify diverse voices. The session will share key successes, pitfalls, and practical strategies for launching similar initiatives, demonstrating how podcasts can cultivate informed, engaged learners while strengthening connections between students and libraries.