News from the Field
ACRL 2027 Proposals Due October 16
The deadline for ACRL 2027 community chat, lightning talks, poster session, roundtable discussion, and virtual presentation proposals is coming up: October 16, 2026. The ACRL 2027 Conference, to be held April 7–10, 2027, in Portland, Oregon, and online, recognizes the changes shaping our communities and embraces the opportunities they bring. More than just a chance to tackle the important work ahead, ACRL 2027 is an opportunity to connect with colleagues, build new relationships, and expand the skills that support your work. We welcome you to share your academic research and innovative projects at ACRL 2027. The conference offers eight unique session formats designed to accommodate a variety of presentation and learning styles. Whether you’re a first-time presenter or an experienced expert, there’s a format that’s perfect for showcasing your ideas. The complete Call for Proposals is available on the conference website at https://cvent.me/MOoqWL.
Penn State Special Collections Announces 2026–27 Research Grant Recipients
The Eberly Family Special Collections Library at Penn State University Libraries has announced the recipients of its 2026–27 research grants. These awards support scholars, students, and independent researchers whose work draws on Special Collections’ distinctive collections and advances new scholarship across disciplines. This year’s awardees represent a dynamic range of research areas, including art history, immigrant print culture, military memory, inter-American intellectual history, and Black diaspora studies. Their projects highlight the depth and breadth of Special Collections while demonstrating the continued relevance of archival research to contemporary scholarship and creative work.
Each recipient will conduct in-person research using the Eberly Family Special Collections Library’s rare books, manuscripts, archival collections, and audiovisual materials. The program reflects the library’s commitment to advancing research, supporting emerging and established scholars, and supporting new interpretations of the historical record. Awardees will complete their research by June 2027 and will share their findings through a virtual program open to all in the summer of 2027. Learn more about the program and 2026-27 awardees at https://www.psu.edu/news/university-libraries/story/libraries-special-collections-announces-research-grant-recipients-2026.
New and Revised ACRL Standards, Statements, and Frameworks on Access Services, Status of Academic Librarians
The ACRL Board of Directors approved a revision of “A Framework for Access Services Librarianship” at its June 27, 2026, meeting. Developed by the ACRL Access Services Interest Group (ASIG), the revised document now opens with six core concepts ASIG identified as central to the practice of the craft of Access Services Librarianship, informed by a series of open forums and a survey of access services professionals’ personal experiences with the existing document.
The Board also approved an updated version of the “Statement on the Terminal Professional Degree for Academic Librarians” and new “ACRL Standards for the Employment, Promotion, and Tenure of Academic Librarians.” Developed by the ACRL New Roles and Changing Landscapes and Value of Academic Libraries Committees, the “Statement on the Terminal Professional Degree for Academic Librarians” consolidates and updates the prior versions of the “Statement on the Certification & Licensing of Academic Librarians” and the “Statement on the Terminal Professional Degree for Academic Librarians” into a single statement. The “ACRL Standards for the Employment, Promotion, and Tenure of Academic Librarians” consolidates and updates the previous “ACRL Standards for Faculty Status for Academic Librarians,” “ACRL Standards for Academic Librarians Without Faculty Status,” and the “Standard for the Appointment, Promotion and Tenure of Academic Librarians” into a single document. All ACRL Standards, Guidelines, and Frameworks are freely available on the ACRL website at http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/standardslibraries.
GPO Launches Public Access to 1.2 Million Historic Government Records Dating back to 1895
The US Government Publishing Office (GPO) has launched public access to more than 1.2 million newly available records of historic US government publications, making it easier than ever to find documents published between 1895 and 1976. The records are now live in the Catalog of US Government Publications (CGP) and are available to the public at no cost. This launch improves search and discovery and opens the door to decades of government publications that were previously difficult to locate online. Historic highlights from this launch include hearings on the causes of the 1912 Titanic disaster, “Plant a Victory Garden, Our Food Is Fighting” World War II poster urging Americans to grow their own food to support the war effort from 1943, and 1970 hearings on the Apollo 13 accident. The new records come from the Monthly Catalog of US Government Publications, often called “MoCat.” They were converted from the print catalogs to a searchable form and freely licensed to the public by Proquest, part of Clarivate. For many years, MoCat served as the official list of publications the GPO produced. Published from 1895 through 2004, it helped libraries and the public track government publications. After MoCat ended, the CGP became the primary tool for finding government publications. Although newer publications have long been searchable online, many older publications had limited or no digital records.
APTrust and CLOCKSS Launch Digital Preservation Advocacy Toolkit Project
The Academic Preservation Trust (APTrust) and CLOCKSS are teaming up to build the Digital Preservation Advocacy Toolkit, a practical collection of resources to help practitioners clearly, confidently, and effectively make the case for digital preservation. The Digital Preservation Advocacy Toolkit will be a shared, adaptable set of resources that practitioners and digital preservation advocates, particularly in US academic contexts, can use immediately in presentations, strategic planning conversations, grant narratives, and outreach efforts. Planned materials include executive briefing documents, presentation templates, messaging and communication guides, audience-specific advocacy materials, case studies and examples, strategic planning resources, and outreach and engagement tools. All resources are being designed with adaptability in mind; practical enough to use across different institutional contexts, and flexible enough to be made your own. More details are available at https://aptrust.org/2026/06/03/building-the-case-aptrust-and-clockss-launch-a-digital-preservation-advocacy-toolkit-project/.
Choice and Wiley Publish Report on Transformative Agreements
Choice announces the publication of “Transformative Agreements, Open Access and Research Impact,” the latest in a series of research reports designed to provide actionable intelligence around topics of importance to the academic library community. Through a collaboration between Wiley and Choice, this survey report examines how academic libraries are navigating the transformative agreements landscape, offering insights into their roles, challenges, and progress. Transformative agreements (TAs) have emerged as a pivotal mechanism in the evolution of scholarly publishing, designed to transition institutions from traditional subscription-based access models to publishing open access (OA).
As institutions increasingly emphasize research visibility, public access compliance, and global impact, TAs have become a focal point of strategic library planning. This report presents the findings from a survey designed to assess the role that US-based academic libraries play and the sentiments they have toward institutional research priorities, including open access publishing objectives and the adoption of transformative agreements. A generous contribution from Wiley provided funding for this research. “Transformative Agreements, Open Access and Research Impact” has been published under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and is available on the Choice website at https://www.choice360.org/research-papers/.
OverDrive and EBSCO Announce New Integration to Enhance Discovery of Digital Resources in Academic Libraries
OverDrive and EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) have announced a new integration that connects OverDrive’s ebooks and audiobooks on Libby directly to the EBSCO Knowledge Base (KB) and EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS). This collaboration delivers ongoing synchronization of digital library holdings within institutions’ Integrated Library Systems (ILS), streamlining workflows for librarians and enhancing discovery for students and faculty.
Through this partnership, mutual customers can now discover Libby content directly within their existing EBSCO environments. The integration simplifies management of digital collections by allowing librarians to select OverDrive collections from the EBSCO Knowledge Base and automatically populate them into their catalogs. Students and faculty can discover ebooks and audiobooks alongside other library resources and seamlessly link to Libby to borrow content.
The integration ensures that mutual OverDrive and EBSCO customers can connect students to their libraries’ full range of ebooks, audiobooks, and videos, all in one place. For librarians, it means fewer steps to manage digital content and more opportunities to highlight the rich media collections that support student success. This initiative underscores both organizations’ commitment to empowering libraries with technology that simplifies resource management and promotes discovery. By uniting OverDrive’s digital reading and streaming platforms with EBSCO’s robust discovery tools, the partnership supports a more integrated and accessible experience.
LibraryOne Launches Open Print Book Marketplace for Libraries
LibraryOne recently announced the launch of an open print book marketplace within TitleSource 360 (TS360). This marks a significant expansion of TS360’s role from a trusted acquisitions tool to a centralized, vendor-agnostic marketplace where libraries can discover, evaluate, and order print books from multiple suppliers all within a single workflow. TitleSource 360 has long been a trusted platform for library acquisitions. Under LibraryOne, TS360 is being repositioned as the go-to collection development destination for print books—a single place where public and academic libraries can browse availability, compare supplier options, and place orders without disrupting existing ILS workflows. LibraryOne is also in the process of onboarding an international foreign language supplier, extending the marketplace’s reach to non-English language collections. Learn more at https://www.libraryone.com/products/ts360. 
Tech Bits . . .
If you’ve ever struggled using the built-in screen capture on your computer to send example images or instructions to students or faculty, you might consider installing TechSmith’s SnagIt. SnagIt is a tool used for screen capture and screen recording. It comes with editing software that allows you to quickly and easily add text, callouts, or step-by-step buttons to your screenshot. You can also combine multiple screenshots to create a one-page how-to guide. Additionally, SnagIt has a screen record feature that allows you to record your screen and highlight items live—making it much easier to put together video tutorials for your library services. You can even turn short videos into gifs that can be embedded into LibGuides or share your captures to PowerPoint.
TechSmith SnagIt
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