{"id":7,"date":"2025-09-15T17:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T17:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oregonlibconference.org\/2026\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2026-03-17T15:44:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T15:44:47","slug":"save-the-date-for-ola-pnla-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oregonlibconference.org\/2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"2026<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2026 Oregon Library Association\/Pacific Northwest Library Association Joint Annual Conference<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

APRIL 22 \u2013 24 in Portland, Oregon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join your colleagues in Portland, Oregon for three days of workshops, presentations, and networking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Welcome from the Oregon Library Association (OLA) and the Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are so excited to invite you to the 2026 OLA PNLA Joint Conference happening April 22\u201324, 2026, at the Holiday Inn Columbia Riverfront in Portland, Oregon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s theme, “Get Loud for Libraries,” is more than just a slogan; it\u2019s our call to action! Together, OLA and PNLA are celebrating the power of unity, advocacy, and collaboration across our amazing library communities. This conference is our chance to raise our voices, share our stories, and stand strong for the future of libraries as centers of learning, connection, and access for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep your eyes open for announcements about all the fantastic things we have planned. You won\u2019t want to miss it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can\u2019t wait to Get Loud for Libraries<\/strong> with you in Portland!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April Witteveen (she\/her)
President, Oregon Library Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April Hernandez (she\/her)
Pacific Northwest Library Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SESSION & SPEAKER HIGHLIGHTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keynote Session: Mychal the Librarian<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday, 12:30 \u2013 1:30 pm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mychal the Librarian, is a librarian, author, and media personality celebrated for his joyful advocacy of literacy and mental health. A champion of \u201cunhinged library joy,\u201d Mychal inspires millions with his affirming message that \u201cyou belong\u201d and his mission to make libraries welcoming spaces for all. He creates uplifting, book-centered content for PBS and PBS Kids and was named the new host of Reading Rainbow in 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Featured Author Session with Ellie Alexander<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, 8:30 \u2013 10:00 am<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ellie Alexander is the bestselling author of more than forty cozy mystery novels. Her books have been translated into Spanish, Italian, Russian, French, Slovakian, Czech, and Japanese, reaching readers worldwide. She is the founder of the annual Ashland Mystery Festival and a frequent guest at library programs and author events throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond, including the popular Northwest Authors series and independent bookshops across the region. In addition to her fiction, her essays and articles have appeared in publications such as Mystery Scene Magazine, The Oregonian, and Portland Family Magazine. As a writing teacher and coach, she helps aspiring authors shape their stories and navigate the path to publication with clarity and confidence. A proud Pacific Northwest native, Alexander often sets her mystery series against real backdrops from Portland\u2019s hipster neighborhoods to the charming Shakespearean hamlet of Ashland. She now lives in Sunnyvale, California, where she\u2019s been swept away by the stunning coastal communities and sun-drenched small towns, which of course have found their way into her new series. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellie’s Book Series Resource List<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public Library Division dinner: Narrator Julia Whelan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To speak at the Public Library Division hosted dinner. The dinner is open to all attendees, however, there is an additional charge for this event and needs to be included in your registration submission.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia Whelan is dubbed \u201cThe Meryl Streep of Audiobooks\u201d by bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid, \u201cThe Adele of Audiobooks\u201d by The New Yorker, and yes, even \u201cThe Michael Jordan of Audio\u201d by General David H. Petraeus, Julia Whelan is an author, screenwriter, lifelong actor, and acclaimed audiobook narrator of over 700 titles.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is, most recently, the recipient of Spotify\u2019s Narrator of the Year Award (the most listened-to narrator globally), the first-ever Gracie Award for Best Fiction Narrator (presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation), the SOVAS (Society of Voice Arts and Sciences) Lifetime Achievement Award, and winner of the Audie Award for Best Fiction Narrator of 2025. She also captured both the winner and runner-up slots in the inaugural audiobook category of the Goodreads Choice Awards.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her performance of her own debut novel, the international bestseller My Oxford Year, garnered a SOVAS award and was released in August, 2025 as a Netflix film. Her 2022 novel, Thank You For Listening, was a Best-of-the-Year pick at Amazon, Audible, and NPR as well as a Goodreads Choice Award nominee and winner of the Golden Poppy.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her latest books\u2014the Audie nominated duet romance, Casanova LLC (coming in print, Spring 2027), and the annotated Victorian poetry anthology The Poetry Of My Oxford Year\u2014debuted exclusively on Audiobrary<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia has also applied her talent to voicing longform journalism. As head of production at the start-up Audm (since acquired by the New York Times), she has voiced Susan Glasser, Jane Mayer, Rebecca Traister, Ronan Farrow, and Davis Sedaris, among other well known journalists. Her voice has become a staple for magazines such as Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, and more.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has been the keynote speaker at Nashville\u2019s WriterFest, Adventure by the Book\u2019s Super Book event, keynote at OverDrive\u2019s Digipalooza 2025, and will be the opening keynote at the upcoming CLA (California Library Association) conference this fall. She is a multi-year invited guest at the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival (2024, 2025, and upcoming 2026), a speaker at ALA (American Library Association), and has moderated\/performed at multiple conferences and events.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia is the founder of Audiobrary, a new audio publishing and distribution company with its own app, which seeks to change how creatives are compensated in the audiobook industry. <\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is also a Grammy-nominated audiobook director, a former writing tutor, a half-decent amateur baker, and a certified tea sommelier. She lives in California\u2019s Coachella Valley. <\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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