MLA Annual Conference 2024

Sunday River Resort at the Grand Summit Hotel in Newry, ME

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Schedule  (PDF)

Streamlined conference program (PDF) and ADA accessible versions for both Monday and Tuesday (Word Documents).

Speaker Biographies (PDF)

All schedules are current as of 5/15. 

Schedule Highlights: 

PRE-CONFERENCE:  Let’s Talk About It! Empowering Librarians for Controversial Public Sessions and One-to-One Conversations with Craig Freshley

Craig Freshley is a professional meeting facilitator, speaker, and writer with an inspiring attitude and a well-earned reputation for helping groups be efficient and productive. He has professionally facilitated over 3,000 meetings and has helped countless groups make good decisions. Craig recently published his third book: Together We Decide, An Essential Guide for Making Good Group Decisions. For bringing together Democrats and Republicans in a series of Make Shift Coffee Houses throughout Maine, Craig won the American Civic Collaboration Award. view full details and register 

Sunday Night fun: Steam Mill brewing and Rockashop sound system

Join us for dinner, drinks, and reggae beats at Steam Mill Brewing Company on Sunday night, 5-7ish. Note this is pay your own way. 

Monday's Keynote Speaker: Colin Woodard

Colin Woodard is the director of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University and the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including "American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America", "Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood" and "The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier." A veteran foreign correspondent and investigative journalist, he received a 2012 George Polk Award and was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for his reporting at PPH. His bestselling history of Blackbeard’s pirate gang - "The Republic of Pirates", was made a series. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Smithsonian, The Economist, Politico, and many other publications.He lives in Freeport, where he is an avid user of Maine's statewide interlibrary loan service.

Monday Lunch: AWARDS Ceremony

Outstanding Librarian of the Year, Library Advocate of the Year, Jim Campbell Intellectual Freedom Award honoree, and Ainsworth Scholarship recipient will be announced.

Monday night fun: Trivia with meg gray 

Win the respect of colleagues as you drop knowledge and have some fun! Cash bar. 

Tuesday's morning yoga 

Enjoy morning sun salutations with Marie Hurrell in the Fitness Room 7-8 am. 

Tuesday's Keynote Speaker: Julia Bouwsma

Julia Bouwsma lives off-the-grid in the mountains of western Maine where she works as a poet, homesteader, editor, teacher, and small-town librarian. She is Maine’s sixth Poet Laureate, currently serving a term from 2021 to 2026, and is the author three poetry collections: the forthcoming Death Fluorescence (Sundress Publications, 2025), Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018), and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017). Among other honors, she is a two-time recipient of the Maine Literary Award for Poetry Book. Bouwsma is a former Managing Editor for Alice James Books, has taught in the Creative Writing department at the University of Maine at Farmington, serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, and works as the Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield, ME.