Engage Keynote: Climate, Conflict, and Community: The role of libraries in a world on fire

Speaker: Michael Peter Edson, Independent consultant, United States

Libraries are used to operating within well-established boundaries of authority and trust. But the imperatives of the 21st century — including the climate emergency, conflict, and rapid technological and social change are acting like a truth serum, or X-ray, on our profession, revealing gaps and flaws in the conceptual foundations of our work.

In this provocative and inspiring keynote, cultural strategist and digital pioneer Michael Peter Edson will draw from 25 years of work in the library and museum sector to argue that an updated concept of librarianship is needed if we are to answer today’s most important questions about culture, society, and change