Thanks to Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt, director of the Colfax Public Library,  for sharing these Take-aways from her experience at the 2026 Public Library Association Conference!

I really appreciated IFLS’s financial help attending the 2026 PLA conference. I wouldn’t have been able to afford to go otherwise. Here are three conference highlights:

1.  The Exhibit Hall, with hundreds of vendors’ booths set up to browse, was exciting and informative. I was introduced to new technologies, several of which I hope to add to our library. For example, play-away game pads only cost $99 and are loaded with educational games and safe for kids (they don’t connect to unfiltered internet). I also liked the history photo software that utilizes rural aerial photos taken in the 1950’s. There was also a vendor whose books are set up to encourage parent/child bonding through reading. These books feature both an easy picture book story to be read to children and parenting / reading / educational tips on the opposite page. Hospitals often give these books out to young families with newborns. I like the idea of having a couple of them here!
2. The classes offered were relevant and thoughtfully conceived. I loved how some were targeted toward rural libraries while others were targeted for a more urban setting, because we often have different experiences and challenges. I liked the positive tone of the classes and how there was an energetic feeling to the conference’s events. My favorite classes were “The Revolution Will Not be Alphabetized” and “Safety Done Right: How Empathy-Driven Culture Can Redefine Libraries.” So often we, as directors, feel isolated as we are involved in running the day to day at our various libraries. It’s nice to be reminded through these classes that we are not alone and that we are in fact part of a big broad system doing a lot of good in this country.
3. I thought it was wonderful just to see and listen to / talk with the different librarians. There were many very warm people, kind and courteous, and a lot of interesting folks who are “characters” but full of experience and knowledge. Library directors as a whole are a smart, interesting group, and it was nice to learn some of our similarities and differences (one difference I found fascinating was that some libraries require staff to use form letters in correspondence when they are representing the library.)