Annual Conference 2026
M25 Consortium Annual Conference 2026
In 2026, the M25 Consortium’s Annual Conference will take place online. We look forward to presenting an excellent online Conference and welcoming everyone virtually on Tuesday 9h June 2026.
We are currently putting together the Conference programme and will open delegate bookings and start to announce speakers early in 2026.
Sunshine Through the Rain
Our theme for Conference 2026 is “Sunshine Through the Rain: sharing our successes”
Libraries continue to deliver outstanding services for their users during these challenging financial times. We are taking the time at our online Conference to hear from voices across the sector. We will celebrate the wins by sharing achievements, collaborations, staff wellbeing initiatives, projects, and activities that have provided some sunshine through the rain: whether small or large – they all make a difference.
Call for Lightning Talk Speakers now open!
The call for lightning talk presentations is now open. We are looking for speakers to deliver short, focussed talks that connect to our Conference theme. Has your service worked on an approach that has resonated well with your users? Have you introduced a positive change or activity for staff that has helped them to manage change and challenges? Our aim is to provide delegates with positive stories, inspiration, and ideas to consider in their own institutions, however small.
There will be four lightning talk slots: two in the morning and two in the afternoon. These will be short presentations of no more than ten minutes. After each talk, there will be time for managed questions from delegates.
All voices
We strongly encourage library staff from our member institutions at any level and type of role to apply, particularly if you are new to presenting or have not previously presented at our Annual Conference. Just over a third of our members are smaller libraries. To reflect the broad range of M25 members, we also encourage submissions from those working in smaller or specialist scholarly libraries.
We will provide a Conference Presenter buddy for those that would like additional support prior to presenting.
Why apply?
As well as providing a great professional development opportunity at a highly respected academic library sector event, the four lightning talk speakers will receive a free delegate place to Conference and be featured in an M25 Monthly Newsletter.
How to apply
Send a short summary, of not more than 250 words, outlining the subject of your talk, to the Conference Planning Group to Jill Howard, M25 Consortium Operations Manager M25libadmin@london.ac.uk. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday 27 February 2026.
Applicants must currently work for an M25 Member library. Check our Directory of Members now. If your institution is not a member, why not consider joining the M25 Consortium? Find out more.
It’s all about our community: whether online or in person
In June 2025 we held our Annual Conference 2025 in person at the University of Greenwich, the first time in six years. It was a great success and wonderful to bring library professionals together to present, learn and share. We understand the different opportunities and benefits that in person and online events bring and have made the decision to hold in person Annual Conferences in alternate years. We’ll be back welcoming everyone to a face-to-face Conference in 2027.