WELCOME TO THE CLA 2026 CONFERENCE!

PRE-CONFERENCE: PRESIDENT'S RECEPTION

It is finally here! The 2026 CLA Conference will begin in just a few days on Sunday, April 26th at 5 PM with our Pre-Conference President's Reception. We invite anyone who is joining us for the conference to come to this Meet-and-Greet with our President, Erin Dummeyer and Vice-President, Brenda McKinley, enjoy some appetizers and drinks. This is a FREE event to welcome you to our conference, appetizers and drinks (soft drinks, seltzers, and waters) are on us (anything harder there will be a cash bar open). This event will take place in the Mystic Ballroom of the Mystic Marriott Hotel and Spa. Following this event at 5:30 PM will be a Documentary Screening of "The Librarians." If you haven't purchased your ticket yet, you can do so at the door for $10. Finally to end Sunday's events we will wrap up with a CLA FUNdraiser: BookBAG Craft. For $30 you can learn how to make a bookbag or purse out of real books. Materials will be provided along with 1 drink ticket and hors d'oeuvres.

CONFERENCE

We are excited to have you join us for our 2-day conference April 27-28. We wanted to give you some information beforehand in case you had any lingering questions.

• For those that chose the virtual option for our program booklet, or anyone who would rather use their phones to navigate the conference, our Conference Website is LIVE and ready to use, with all the information you need regarding Daily Schedules, the Exhibit Hall, Featured Speakers, Announcements, and Venue Maps, plus much more. You can access this at www.claconference.info. Bookmark this for all your conference needs. Our website is mobile-friendly so you won't have to worry about missing anything!

• Our Full Conference Booklet is also available on the website, or you can download our 2026 Conference Booklet PDF here.

• Parking is free at our venue. Unless you are staying over at the hotel, please be sure to use the conference parking lot (this is to the left when you enter). You will then enter through the doors on that side of the building. We will have signs, but we want you to be prepared if our signs aren't strong enough. Here is the conference center map. Enter where indicated "Conference Entrance.

• All attendees and speakers will check in at the Mystic Foyer (located directly inside the doors on the conference side of the building). Check-in on Monday and Tuesday begin at 7:30 AM. Again, our full schedule is available at www.claconference.info. Signage will indicate where to check in based on your last name or if you are a speaker/guest.

• Vendors can check in on Sunday night from 8-10 PM in the Marriott Ballroom, or from 7-8AM on Monday.

• A reminder that if you have an unpaid registration, you will be asked to pay it in full at check-in. We only accept Credit Cards or Cash for this payment and you would have received an invoice from us this week to remind you of the payment.

• We will not be able to accept walk-in registrations for anything other than our special Sunday and Monday night events, so if you have a colleague that did not pre-register, they will not be able to register to join us on site due to capacity limits.

• Lanyards will be given out at registration, but as always you are welcome to bring your own from home. However, Badges must be worn throughout the conference.

• Printed Program Booklets were an add-on during event registration. If you added this onto your registration, you will receive the printed program booklet when you check in and receive your badge. If you did not add this on, we will have very limited number of these available for purchase at Registration for $3. 

• Your full registration includes: buffet breakfast, morning snack, lunch buffet, afternoon snack, all day water, soft drinks, tea and coffee.

• CLA Members are invited to join us at 8:30 AM on Monday Morning for our Annual Meeting in the Mystic Ballroom. There will be a vote needed by the membership so if you are onsite, please be sure to get a seat.

• Our conference is at FULL Capacity on Monday. If you want a seat up front at an event or in a session, please be sure to arrive early at the start of that set time. We ask that all conference attendees help to accommodate those with any accessibility impairments. How can you help? Some of our recommendations: Try to leave front row seating open if you are not vision or hearing impaired for those that may be. Do not block doorways or aisles for those that have differing mobility and need extra and/or different space.

• For those that need a break, please take use of our Sensory/Relaxation Corner (X Marks the Spot on the Venue Map) that will be open throughout the entirety of the conference. If you go to this space, please use it as it is intended as a quiet space/break from the crowd.

• This year speakers have been given access to upload their presentations to our MediaFire meeting module. Attendees will get access to this when we send our post-conference email the week AFTER conference. If a session speaker lets you know their presentation will be available here, don't worry- you will get access to it soon!

After-Hours Events!

You still have the option to join us for After-Hours events on Monday, April 27th. You are welcome to bring guests to these events as well (some are ticketed) so if they aren't registered for the Conference on Monday, that is okay!

4:50-5:15 PM: Cocktails with Vendors- Come and mingle with our vendors and feel free to purchase a drink from the cash bar. You do not need a ticket for this event.

5:30-7:30 PM: CLA FUNdraiser: Grown-Up Nostalgic Book Fair (Ticketed- Cost is $10-, tickets can be purchased at the door) Cost of attendance includes a light refreshments and entrance to browse our bookseller, crafters and artisan vendors. More information about this special event can be found on our featured events page of the conference website.

STILL NEED HELP OR HAVE QUESTIONS?

Our Conference Committee, Executive Board Members and CLA Staff will be on-site to help you! Don't know who to look for? Find them here. Or contact Alessandra Casiello, Event Coordinator at claconevents@gmail.com.

ENJOY THE CONFERENCE!

If a program has had to be moved or cancelled, find out here: Check back often!