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Immersion '20 Program Cancellation

March 13, 2020

Dear Colleagues:

We regret to inform you that ACRL is cancelling the 2020 Immersion Program at Loyola University Chicago, August 2-7, 2020.

We have been carefully monitoring Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and local health authorities to make a good decision about whether to hold the program, given it is still more than four months away. However, Loyola just notified us that they were no longer able to provide the campus facilities that are crucial for the program. Given this information, we are cancelling the 2020 Immersion Program. We realize that these are unprecedented times and that the health and safety of both Loyola’s campus community and our membership is of utmost importance.

We are grateful to those of you who have already registered and thank the Immersion Facilitators, who were planning what would have been an excellent program. We are already making plans for the 2021 program. Immersion '21 will be held at Loyola University, July 18-23, 2021. Details will be available fall 2020.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be issuing full refunds to everyone who has already registered. If you don’t see your refund arrive by April 15, 2020, please email registration@ala.org.

Please also feel free to direct any questions to me at mconahan@ala.org. We are here to answer your questions and thank you in advance for your patience and understanding in these difficult circumstances.

Be well,

Margot Conahan

Manager, Professional Development

Association of College and Research Libraries

a division of the 91´«Ã½

50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611

About Immersion '20

The ACRL Information Literacy Immersion Program is an intensive 4½-day program held at Loyola University in Chicago, IL. The program provides participants with an opportunity to get away from the day-to-day pressures of our work, reflect on the big issues facing librarianship, and develop new relationships with colleagues from institutions around the world.

The Immersion curriculum challenges you to:

• Reflect on various conceptions of information literacy and develop and apply a personal and, when applicable, shared understanding of information literacy
• Examine the educational role of librarians in higher education
• Engage with theories of influence, change, and leadership
• Examine and question underlying assumptions about teaching and learning
• Develop anti-racist practices and pedagogies that can be employed in the classroom and beyond

Why You Should Attend

The Immersion program welcomes participants with any level of experience in libraries. We invite anyone who would like to reflect upon, extend, and deepen their practice as an educator in libraries, regardless of particular job function or title.

Attending Immersion is a long-term investment in your professional development and will provide you with a conceptual and theoretical grounding to grow and develop your professional identity over the course of your career.

This program is for you if:

• You want to work closely with a group of co-learners and facilitators to critically examine why you do what you do in your educational role in libraries
• You are willing to be a co-learner and co-teacher, helping to build a learning community through honest and brave conversations throughout the week
• You are committed to creating equitable and just learning and working environments.
• You want to surface, examine, and reframe issues for positive social change
• You would like to investigate and commit to making change in your practice, environment, or workplace

Immersion '20 Learning Environment and Outcomes

In preparation for the program, participants will be asked to engage with a short selection of readings; conduct an environmental scan; and identify an aspect of your practice that you would like to investigate and/or a change to explore and critique during the program through online conversations with other participants.

Upon completion of the program you will be able to start putting theory into action and:

• Appraise your own position and context of practice, including your institutional setting and larger systems of power and privilege
• Develop critically informed instructional practices
• Develop a critical perspective that addresses issues of power and privilege in higher education and fosters inclusive workplaces and communities
• Possess a conceptual toolkit to use as you re-establish your professional identity moving forward
• Have a community of people with whom you can continue thinking and talking about and reflecting upon your work

Immersion '20 Schedule

Immersion will kick-off with a welcome dinner at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 2, and will conclude by 12:00 p.m. on Friday, August 7, 2020.

Immersion ‘20 is an intensive, 4.5 day program which depends on active participation by all attendees. Previous attendees will tell you that engaged participation and interactions with colleagues are central to making Immersion an enriching and fulfilling experience. You will benefit most if you fully commit your time, including scheduled meals, during the duration of the program. In order to receive a certificate of completion, you must participate fully in the program activities, including pre-assignments. The full program schedule will be available later this spring.

Immersion '20 Program Facilitators

During Immersion, nationally-recognized lead participants through intensive information literacy training and education.

Registration and Scholarships

Registration fee

ACRL member: $1,895

Non ACRL member: $1,995

Registration deadline

May 1, 2020

Registration capacity

Registration is capped at 90 participants. Registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Questions about the Immersion Program should be directed to Margot Conahan (mconahan@ala.org).