CARLI News April 29, 2026

CARLI News April 29, 2026

Submitted by mjhuls on Wed, 04/29/2026 - 11:08am

If you need disability-related accommodations to participate in any of the events mentioned below, please email the CARLI Office support@carli.illinois.edu. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs.

Registration is typically required for CARLI events. For more information and to register for events, please visit the event page links below.

CARLI Committee Volunteer Application Open through May 1

If you have been considering volunteering for a CARLI committee, the application period will remain open until 5 p.m. on Friday, May 1. Volunteers chosen for a committee will serve a three-year term. Faculty and staff from all CARLI member libraries are encouraged to apply! 

Service on CARLI committees and task forces affords individuals a unique opportunity to use their experience and expertise to help shape the future of the consortium and its services. You can find more information including the charges for the various committees from the committee directory.

We hope you will apply during the 2026 committee volunteer period! 

CARLI, IHLS, and RAILS Announce ILDS Turnaround Time Change

Due to sustainability, efficiency, and safety reasons, the Consortium for Academic & Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), the Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS), and the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS) are announcing a change to the Illinois Library Delivery Service (ILDS).
 
We are moving the RAILS and IHLS delivery vans′ regular meetup time. Currently, RAILS and IHLS shuttles meet every weeknight in Champaign to exchange materials. These shuttles will meet during the day, rather than at night effective June 29.
 
This change will mean that some items will now have a 48-hour turnaround time instead of 24 hours. The change will only impact items that are traveling between two separate hubs. Items that stay within their respective systems′ service areas will be unaffected.

Other than this change, statewide interlibrary loan delivery will remain the same. We at CARLI, IHLS, and RAILS understand that ILDS is a significant benefit for our member libraries.
 
IHLS and RAILS libraries that do not participate in CARLI will see little to no change in their delivery turnaround times.
 
We appreciate your understanding in this matter and hope this change will cause minimal disruption to our interlibrary loan delivery patterns.
 
For more information, please contact the following organizations:

Apply for the CARLI Scholarship by June 1

The CARLI Scholarship provides financial assistance to current employees of CARLI Governing Member Libraries pursuing graduate studies leading to a Master′s Degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Scholarships may be awarded for both on-campus and/or distance education programs.
 
Applicants must be employed by a CARLI Governing Member Library at the time of application. Preference is given to full-time employees, but part-time and student employees may also apply. The applicant must also be enrolled or accepted and will be a student in a graduate school program during the academic year, semester, or academic quarter for which the scholarship is received. First-time recipients are given preference, but students may apply for and be awarded the scholarship more than once. Candidates awarded the scholarship must supply proof of admission or enrollment to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before the scholarship is disbursed. Applications are due on June 1, 2026.

Give to the CARLI Scholarship Fund

We would like to thank our donors for their generous contributions to the scholarship fund. You can give to the scholarship fund online. The minimum donation is $5.00. We hope you will consider supporting future librarians and help CARLI grow the profession with a contribution.

Register Now! Oakton College Learning Commons and Collaborative Library Spaces Open House - May 27, 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Registration is still open! Join the CARLI Public Services Committee at the Oakton College Learning Commons and Collaborative Library Spaces Open House
 
The CARLI Public Services Committee and Oakton College invite their CARLI colleagues to tour the new Learning Commons at Oakton College in both Des Plaines and Skokie. Attendees will be able to learn more about what went into creating these contemporary, student-centered spaces that bring together academic resources and support services into a single, dynamic hub designed to foster collaboration and academic achievement. There will also be a panel discussion with various stakeholders that share the space.
 
Lunch will be provided. More information and an agenda for the day can be found at the registration link.
 
Attendees will begin the day at the Des Plaines campus of Oakton College then shift to the Skokie campus in the afternoon.
 
Registration deadline is May 11 at 5:00 pm.

FY27 CARLI Ebook Program

CARLI is thrilled to announce the Access Collections for the FY27 CARLI Ebook Program. This program continues due to CARLI Members′ commitment to this program. Thank you! 

All Governing Members will have unlimited access to our Access Collections from July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027. At the end of this Access Period, all funds that were committed to the program will be used to select titles for perpetual access for all members. 

Oxford University Press

Ebooks added to the Oxford Scholarship Online/Oxford Academic platform from January 2021–June 2027 in eleven subject collections published by Oxford University Press. Those eleven subject collections are Biology, Economics and Finance, History, Law, Literature, Music, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Social Work, and Sociology.

Difference from FY26 Access Collection: Added two additional subject collections: Economics and Finance and Social Work; added new titles for the upcoming year.

University of Illinois Press

CARLI is committed to working with the University of Illinois Press to provide ebooks for our members. CARLI is working on our agreement.

Wiley

All Wiley online books in all subject areas added to the Wiley Online Library platform.

Difference from FY26 Access Collection: Added new titles for the upcoming year.

MARC Records

For I-Share Members CARLI will add bibliographic records via the Network Zone for access in Primo VE. The records for the Access Collections will be updated monthly.

For CARLI Governing Members that are not I-Share members CARLI will share the OCLC KB Collections with only the titles that are available from CARLI.

More information on the CARLI Ebook Program can be found on the program web page. 

Managing EBSCO E-Collections in the Institution Zone Project

The project deadline is Friday, May 1 to have EBSCO e-collections active in your Alma Institution Zone. After this date, CARLI staff will be removing EBSCO e-collections from the Alma Network Zone, which will remove them from displaying in Primo VE. 

Exploring Alma Analytics Together: A CMC Community Chat - May 7, 2:00–3:15 p.m.

The CARLI Collection Management Committee invites CARLI members to an informal community chat that will focus on sharing with your CARLI colleagues how you have successfully used Alma Analytics, what challenges you have had with Alma Analytics, and what reports you have found or developed for collection management purposes. The chat will not be recorded. Connection information will be shared with registrants prior to the program. Please register by May 5 at 5:00 p.m.

14th Annual Instruction Showcase – June 4, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Registration to attend the 14th Annual CARLI Instruction Showcase is now open. Sessions this year will be focused on this year′s theme "Trust Us: The Role of Library Instruction in Transforming Landscapes.- This theme centers on trust and how we cultivate it with students, collaborate with colleagues, navigate systems and emergent technologies, while also developing our own expertise in a rapidly shifting information landscape. 

Please share with anyone at your institution who may be interested: we welcome all library staff and LIS students to this event in the hopes of expanding our community of practice. Registration closes on June 4 at 8:00 a.m.

Electronic Resources Management Tea (ERMT)

These tea sessions are an opportunity to gather with electronic resources management peers, network, ask questions, comment on aspects of ERM that you are struggling with and/or are enjoying, and find community with a group of folks that are dealing with the same concerns and issues. 

The tea sessions will be held on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 9:00 a.m. through May 2026. The next session will be on May 27.

LibreTexts Workshops

These workshops are part of a series of workshops designed for CARLI members who have opted in to use LibreTexts. This workshop is open to all CARLI members. 

Using LibreTexts to Remix, Adapt, and Create OER - May 13, 12:00 p.m.

Please join CARLI as we demonstrate some of the uses of LibreTexts Conductor for project planning and management. This workshop will also cover getting you started on remixing, adapting, or creating your OER project. 

Using LibreStudio to Create H5P Assignments in LibreTexts - May 22, 12:00 p.m.

Are you interested in adding dynamic assignments to your Open Educational Resources? Want to learn how to add H5P learning tools to your course materials? Then this is the course for you. You should also request access to LibreStudio on the LibreTexts site prior to the class so we can get you started creating new learning tools. This workshop is part of a series of workshops designed for the support of Open Education Resources in the State of Illinois and funded by the Support of the Creation of Open Education Resources grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education. Please register in advance!

Archives

Emotional Labor in the Archives: Supporting Archivists Mental Health in Donor Relations

The CARLI Archives Committee welcomes members to a webinar on Emotional Labor in the Archives on June 9, 1:00–2:00 p.m. presented by April K. Anderson-Zorn, the University Archivist at Illinois State University.

Archivists often encounter tremendous emotional labor in archival repositories. Experiences can include processing sometimes traumatic collections, assisting researchers who are exploring community trauma, and working with donors experiencing a ′trigger event′ such as suffering a loss, a health crisis, or other life-changing circumstances. This presentation will explore emotional labor, how it manifests in archival work, and suggest ways to implement mental health wellness practices into daily life.
 
Registration is required.

CARLI Member Archives Collection Highlight

This month′s archives collection highlight is about a piece of physics history in the Elmhurst University Archives. This highlight showcases the Kevatron particle accelerator that Elmhurst University received from the University of Chicago in 1967.

Read this full article for more on this special collection.

Professional Development Alliance Events

The following programs from the Professional Development Alliance are currently on the calendar. Programs are offered on a wide variety of subjects. Check out everything the alliance is making available to our libraries!

  • May 5: The Facilitation Librarian: Collaborative Conversations for the Community
  • May 5: Management Series – Management 104: Managing Workplace Conflict
  • May 6: Protecting Collections: Proactive and Responsive Strategies for Environmental Damage
  • May 13: Supporting Student Well-Being: De-Stress Programming in Academic Libraries
  • May 14: Ethics, Legalities, and Practicalities: Privacy in Academic Libraries

CARLI and FLVC Digital Possibilities Webinar Series:

  • June 3: Session 1: Tending the Community: Building and Sustaining a Crowdsourced Transcription Project
  • June 10: Session 2: Strategies for the Digitization of Municipal Archives: The Chicago City Council Audio Recordings, 1970–2012
  • June 23: Session 3: Digitization in a Box: Imagine the Possibilities!
  • July 8: Session 4: Digital Realities and Possibilities for a Sousa Archives Researcher
  • July 15: Session 5: Meet the Chicago Collections Consortium and Revs Institute
  • July 29: Session 6: Strategic Approaches to Transcription

To register, visit the CARLI Event Calendar.

Recordings of past CARLI-sponsored PDA events are available on the Professional Development Alliance website when permitted by the presenter. 

View recordings of past AI-specific PDA webinars offered this fiscal year, compiled by Minitex.
 
Are you interested in presenting a topic for CARLI members and the Professional Development Alliance? Or would you like to moderate a follow up discussion for an upcoming program? to become more involved in CARLI′s continuing education efforts!

Supporting Student Well-Being: De-Stress Programming in Academic Libraries – May 13, 10:00-11:00 a.m.

This panel discussion will explore how academic libraries can support student well-being through intentional de-stress programming. Panelists will highlight practical programs such as Welcome Week initiatives, scavenger hunts, crafting events, low-stakes social events, Finals Week activities, and more. Attendees will leave with adaptable ideas for implementing effective, inclusive de-stress programs in their own libraries and learn more about contributing to a healthier campus environment.

Ethics, Legalities, and Practicalities: Privacy in Academic Libraries - May 14, 1:00-2:00 p.m.

Academic libraries operate at the intersection of competing privacy obligations — legal mandates under state library confidentiality statutes and FERPA, institutional data governance requirements, and the profession′s own ethical commitments to intellectual freedom and patron confidentiality. But what happens when these frameworks do not align, or when the platforms and tools libraries depend on introducing data practices that complicate compliance or compromise values? In this webinar, Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe and Sarah Lamdan will help you navigate the complexity and understand what the law requires, what the profession expects, and how to make sound decisions about day-to-day practicalities.

Digital Possibilities Webinar Series hosted by CARLI and FLVC:

Session 1: Tending the Community: Building and Sustaining a Crowdsourced Transcription Project - June 3, 11:00 a.m. –12:00 p.m. 

Newberry Transcribe invites volunteers to help unlock the Newberry Library′s handwritten historical collections — one document at a time. In this webinar, Digital Services Librarian Jen Wolfe discusses the philosophy behind the project, the outreach strategies that have built an active volunteer community, and the ongoing work of sustaining a transcription program after launch. Attendees will come away with a framework for thinking about crowdsourced transcription not as a technical problem but as a community relationship — one that remains meaningful even in an age of AI.

Session 2: Strategies for the Digitization of Municipal Archives: The Chicago City Council Audio Recordings, 1970–2012 - June 10, 1:00–2:00 p.m. 

In 2024 Chicago′s Office of the City Clerk was awarded a Recordings at Risk grant by the Council on Library and Information Resources to digitize a collection of City Council meeting audio recordings that span 40 years of Chicago political history. In this webinar, Matt Messbarger will explain the specific challenges faced and strategies developed to plan and complete this large-scale project with a focus on access and preservation of a unique record of Chicago history.

Session 3: Digitization in a Box: Imagine the Possibilities! - June 23, 1:00–2:00 p.m. 

The FLVC Digital Services + OER team, led by Rebel-Cummings-Sauls, will describe the "Digitization in a Box" Program — its origin, development, launch, and progress. Windy Gamble, of North Florida College, will share her institution′s journey in using the equipment, learning from FLVC′s training, and succeeding in digitization as a newbie.

Session 4: Digital Realities and Possibilities for a Sousa Archives Researcher - July 8, 1:00–2:30 p.m.

The University of Illinois' Sousa Archives and Center for American Music is both a special collections music archives and museum whose historical collections document diverse music cultures, legacies, and technologies in North, Central, and South America as well as portions of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Our collections are meant to be actively engaged by people of all ages and music backgrounds and abilities. Our philosophy is grounded in providing access to our music collections using all available resources and technologies to enable our visitors to engage with our collections physically, intellectually, and actively. In this presentation, Scott Schwartz will highlight how the Sousa Archives approaches on-site and online public engagement to its music collections using some of today's digital technologies.

Session 5: Meet the Chicago Collections Consortium and Revs Institute - July 15, 10:00–11:00 a.m.

The Chicago Collections Consortium (CCC) is a membership organization of 60+ institutions composed of public and private universities, public libraries, special libraries, museums, and other repositories with collections that chronicle the rich history of Chicago. Its portal, EXPLORE Chicago Collections, is its flagship initiative, providing "one stop shopping": a site for researchers, teachers, students, and the public to find digital images and locate archival holdings on Chicago topics without searching individual institutions′ online catalogs one at a time. Founded in 2012 with twelve governing members, CCC has since grown to 60+ members. Ellen Keith, Executive Director, will discuss the portal, the organization′s other outreach activities, and the organization′s next steps in its second decade.

Revs Institute will share how they are embracing emerging technologies and digital dissemination to expand access, enhance discovery, and preserve specialized knowledge. Arthur Carlson, Director of Archives and Research Center - Revs Institute, will highlight current projects at Revs Institute including a machine learning metadata generation project, the development of a specialized large language learning model to support research, and efforts to document and share specialized at-risk knowledge and share that with the world.

Session 6: Strategic Approaches to Transcription - July 29, 1:00 p.m. 

Liz Bloodworth, Illinois Wesleyan University, will discuss the use of AI tools for transcription of both oral history interviews and handwritten text documents. With increasing demands on staff time, especially in small shop archives, AI offers an opportunity to enhance the discoverability of archival materials through efficient transcription. Liz will share tips for using AI tools ethically and responsibly, stressing the importance of human review throughout the process.

Then, Chris Levesque will discuss digital engagement in the University of West Florida′s Citizen Archivist Projects. During Library Week 2025 and 2026, the UWF University Libraries hosted participatory transcription events of letters and ship logs from their Digital Archives. This effort is built on the well-known National Archives′ Citizen Archivist model to engage students, faculty, and the larger UWF community. This talk will discuss selection of materials, implementation of the project, and lessons learned.

Preservation

Ask a Preservation Expert - May 1, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Do you have questions about the best way to store and preserve your institution′s collections? Join the CARLI Preservation Committee for Ask a Preservation Expert virtual office hours. Committee members will be on hand to answer questions, offer advice, and share resources to help you plan for the long-term preservation and access of your materials. The Preservation Committee includes members who specialize in archives and special collections, conservation, collections care, disaster planning, and more.

Don′t have a specific question? You′re still welcome to join the sessions and hear what other CARLI members want to know.

Protecting Collections: Proactive and Responsive Strategies for Environmental Damage - May 6, 1:00–2:00 p.m. 

Stay informed about all the ways you can prepare your organization and protect your materials from disaster or poor climate conditions. Water, mold, pests, and unstable climates can threaten irreplaceable archival and library collections. Join Matt DeCirce from Polygon to discuss how institutions can better prepare for environmental risks and implement effective recovery strategies to protect valuable materials and minimize long-term damage.

Attendees will learn how to:

  • Identify the most common threats to archival and library collections
  • Implement preparedness strategies that reduce risk and improve response
  • Prioritize stabilization and response actions following environmental damage
  • Understand the specialized recovery services that are currently available
  • Develop practical emergency preparedness and recovery plans

Preservation Tip: Beyond Paper: Preservation in Older Buildings
Jason Smith, Lewis University

While one of the most important parts of preservation is maintaining a consistent room temperature and relative humidity where archival holdings are stored, this is not always an easy task when an institution′s repository is located in an older building. As buildings age, the foundation and infrastructure deteriorate which allows moisture in and prevents temperature retention as hot or cold air is cycled through the gaps. In addition, older buildings may not be equipped with HVAC controls in individual rooms. The temperature and humidity settings may not be what your different materials need. In addition, if you have objects made up of a variety of materials, you cannot set the environment to accommodate each of those materials. 

Read the full article to identify manageable solutions!

Other Library News

HSLI Jira Scholarships for Library Science Students

The application for the HSLI (Health Science Librarians of Illinois) Helen Knoll Jira Scholarships for library science students closes May 15. Winning applicants can receive up to $5,000 in prizes. Any student who lives, works, or studies in Illinois and is enrolled in an accredited Library Sciences Program is eligible to apply. Winners will be notified in August. 

This poster can be printed to post in student areas. If you have any questions or concerns about the Scholarship, please contact the Scholarship Chair, .

Congratulations Eric Edwards

Congratulations to Eric Edwards, Interlibrary Loan Librarian at Illinois State Library, who has been elected to the ACRL Board of Directors as Director-at-Large.

Cataloging Course Being Offered by IHLS April 20-May 3

Dr. Pamela Thomas will spend two weeks providing hands-on cataloging of realia. During Focus on Cataloging Realia, students will originally catalog realia. Cataloging knowledge and experience are strongly recommended. Register in L2.

Upcoming CARLI Events and Meetings

Consult the CARLI calendar to view the current list of meeting times and locations.

Contact Us

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