Call for Papers for open Sessions
The professional programme of the IFLA WLIC 2026 is shaped by open sessions organised by IFLA’s Volunteer Committees and curated by the WLIC Programme Committee comprising members from the Professional and Regional Councils. Every Congress, IFLA’s Volunteer Committees (Sections, Special Interest Groups, Review Groups, and Advisory Committees) issue Calls for Papers to receive proposals from colleagues around the world.
Calls are collected on this page as they become available. If you have something to share at an international level, explore the topics and see if there is something to meet your interests. You must be able to be present in Busan, Korea, at your own cost, in order to be a speaker.
NOTE: The Calls for Papers describe the specific focus of each Committee session for WLIC in 2026. IFLA is not able to accept general abstracts or papers unrelated to specific calls for papers. Calls for papers/presentations for the Satellite Meetings are also available.
Open Sessions
Information Literacy Section (ILS) & Environmental Sustainability and Libraries Section (ENSULIB)
Theme: “Climate Literacy for Sustainable Futures: Libraries Empowering Communities to Act”
Deadline for proposals: 27 April 2026
Local History and Genealogy Section and Metropolitan Libraries Section
Theme: “Transforming the Information Landscape: community partnerships in local history in the digital age“
Deadline for proposals: 27 April 2026
Academic and Research Libraries Section (ARL) and the Preservation & Conservation Section (PRESCON)
Theme: “Libraries Centering Collaboration: Increasing Impact During Ground‑shifting Change”
Deadline for proposals: 01 May 2026
Health and Biosciences Libraries Section (HBS), Evidence for Global and Disaster Health Special Interest Group (E4GDH), the Advisory Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE), and the Advisory Committee on Open Science and Scholarship (OSS)
Theme: “Transforming Global Health Knowledge Systems: Realising Universal Access to Healthcare Information as a Human Right”
Deadline for proposals: 01 May 2026
Preservation & Conservation Section (PRESCON) and the Advisory Committee on Cultural Heritage (CCH)
Theme: “Protecting Knowledge in Times of Crisis: Disaster Planning for a Transforming Information Landscape”
Deadline for proposals: 01 May 2026
Serials and Other Continuing Resources Section (SCORE), Library Publishing Section (LIBPUB), Academic and Research Libraries Section (ARL), and Open Science and Scholarship Advisory Committee (OSSAC)
Theme: “The Transformative Power of Diamond Open Access: Building Knowledge as a Global Good“
Deadline for proposals: 01 May 2026
Subject Analysis and Access Section, LGBTQ+ Matters Section, Advisory Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression
Theme: “Access reclaimed: Defending open knowledge and underrepresented perspectives through subject cataloguing“
Deadline for proposals: 01 May 2026
IFLA Library Publishing Section
Theme: “AI as a Transformative Force for Library Publishing: Issues and Practices“
Deadline for proposals: 11 May 2026 (Extended)
News Media Section, Artificial Intelligence Special Interest Group and Digital Humanities Digital Scholarship Special Interest Group
Theme: “Mind the Gap: The Role of Librarians in Supporting Responsible News Media Research Behaviors in the Age of AI”
Deadline for proposals: 02 May 2026
Artificial Intelligence SIG and Digital Humanities/Digital Scholarship SIG
Theme: “Libraries and the transformation of the research landscape”
Deadline for proposals: 04 May 2026
Advisory Committee on Open Science and Scholarship (OSSAC), Bibliography Section (BIB), Cataloguing Section (CAT), and Serials and Other Continuing Resources Section (SCORE)
Theme: “Metadata for Open Knowledge: Pushing Boundaries, Transforming Access”
Deadline for proposals: 04 May 2026
Audiovisual and Multimedia Section
Theme: “Accessible Audiovisual Libraries: Standards, Workflows, and Inclusive Discovery in the age of Streaming and AI“
Deadline for proposals: 07 May 2026
Art Libraries Section (ARTLIB) and Audiovisual and Multimedia Section (AVMS)
Theme: “Visualizing art: multimedia transformations in libraries”
Deadline for proposals: 01 June 2026 (Extended)
IFLA Cataloguing Section
Theme: “Future-ready data: transformative approaches to cataloguing”
Deadline for proposals: 10 May 2026
Bibliography Section (BIB), Advisory Committee on Cultural Heritage (CCH), and National Libraries Section (NATLIB)
Theme: “Cultural Memory in Motion: Capturing and Documenting Film, Music, and Emerging Media”
Deadline for proposals: 20 May 2026 (Extended)
Regional Council, Asia-Oceania RDC, Europe RDC, Latin America & the Caribbean RDC, Middle East & North Africa RDC, North America RDC, Sub-Saharan Africa RDC
Theme: “Advocacy, Collaboration, and Transformation: Libraries Shaping the Future in Times of Global Change”
Deadline for proposals: 18 May 2026 (Extended)
Reference and Information Services (RISS) Section
Theme: “Rethinking Reference in the AI Era: Empowering Transformation in Libraries”
Deadline for proposals: 11 May 2026
Environment, Sustainability and Libraries Section (ENSULIB) Science & Technology Libraries Section (SCITECH)
Information Technology (IT) Section
Advisory Committee on Open Science and Scholarship (OSS)
Asia-Oceania Regional Division (AO RD)
Theme: “Powering Sustainable Change: Rethinking Digital Research Infrastructure for Environmental Responsibility, Equity, and Innovation”
Deadline for proposals: 15 May 2026
IFLA Section Education and Training (SET) and Knowledge Management Section (KM)
Theme: “Emerging Trends in International LIS Education: Stories from Across the Globe”
Deadline for proposals: 30 May 2026
Questions?
Please contact conferences@ifla.org.