Call for Proposals LIBER Annual Conference 2027

The Call for Proposals for the upcoming 56th LIBER Annual Conference is now open. The deadline for submitting a proposal is the 10th of January 2027. Submission requirements and process are outlined below. 

Keep up with the latest news about the LIBER Annual Conference 2027 on the official conference website. 

LIBER Annual Conference 2027 Theme:

Research Libraries as a Force for Knowledge Autonomy

European research libraries work consistently to inspire trust, to collaborate and to support European research become more confident, dynamic, and beneficial for Europe’s citizens and beyond. In an increasingly polarised world, questions of knowledge and infrastructure sovereignty – who controls the platforms, data, and systems on which research depends – sit alongside an equally strong need for openness and global collaboration. Research libraries stand at the centre of this tension, working to keep knowledge accessible and trustworthy.  

For the 2027 edition of the LIBER Conference, we question ourselves: how research libraries can develop balanced approaches to openness and protection, build strong partnerships while retaining visibility as knowledge partners, and self-govern research and heritage information in ways that remain accessible and serve the public interest? How does this autonomy translate to better service frameworks for providing credible and diverse information, supporting AI literate communities, and maintaining open, viable infrastructures?

Topics

Contribute to the LIBER 2027 conference. We are looking for best, informative, evidence-based contributions on the following topics: 

• Advocacy for and by Libraries 
• Bibliodiversity  
• Responsible Research Support  
• Sustainable Open Infrastructures  
• Responsible use of AI 
• Data Governance  
• Diplomacy and Synergies 
• Academic Freedom 

Each contribution can be linked to a maximum of two topics, where the first one should be the most relevant to its content.

Submission Formats

LIBER 2027 invites submissions that adhere to the theme and its topic comprising of any of the following content directions:  

• Future-oriented, thought leadership pieces arising out of current research. 
• Presentation of research-based solutions, with a clear illustration of the methods used, the ways they can be applied, the results. 
• Work in progress or pilot descriptions, sufficiently mature to warrant attention. 
• Experiences, best practices and case studies specifying requirements, challenges or opportunities. 

When submitting a proposal, speakers can choose the best format for the content they intend to deliver from the list of options below: 

• Presentation (20’): mature works that showcase research, best practices, and case studies, which cover the methods used and open a discussion on the theme and its topics. 
• Poster: visually inspiring displays of an initiative, completed or in progress, processes, and results. Please provide evidence of maturity and prioritize in your poster presentation what the conference participants can learn from your example. 
• Panel (1h): lively panel sessions, consisting of brief and engaging presentations related to the theme and the topics of the conference, inviting discussion among the panelists and with the audience. 
• Workshop (2hs): dynamic and engaging sessions related to the overall theme and topics of the conference, providing delegates with hands-on experience. 
• Lightning Talk (10’): a short presentation of max 10 minutes in which expertise, experience or innovations are shared in an efficient way, emphasising its (2-3) main points or key insights. 

Note: For all proposals, the Conference Programme Committee may, in some cases, accept an abstract while proposing an alternative format from the initially selected one, if it fits better within the programme. In this case, the author will be consulted.   

Please be aware that due to the high number of submissions and the structure of the programme, LIBER will be able to accept a limited number of contributions of each format. 

 Selection Criteria

The CPC will select abstracts based on the following criteria:  

• Relevance
• Originality/Innovation
• Method/Elaboration
• Interest/Engagement
• Impact/Implication  

Artificial Intelligence Policy

The LIBER Conference Programme Committee encourages authors to present their work and express their original thoughts and ideas in the most natural way. The use of generated content is not encouraged as authors must confirm that the generated content does not incur plagiarism, breach of confidentiality or any form of copyright infringement. 

However, we acknowledge that some authors might use AI to linguistically support their submissions. AI-assisted technologies should only be used to improve the readability and language of the work, and, in case of edited content, authors must carefully review and edit the generated content to ensure accuracy and consistency. AI support – besides basic for grammar and orthography – should be disclosed in a statement at the end of their submission. 

Reviewers reserve the right to reject a submission, if the abstract does not convey original ideas and experiences. 

Similarly, reviews are conducted by our Conference Programme Committee members and there is no use of AI for delivering the reviews. Reviewers will not upload any abstracts to generative AI tools as this may violate the authors’ intellectual property and data privacy rights.  

Submission guidelines

• Abstracts must be submitted electronically via the submission form of the conference management system. Submissions by other means (e.g. email) are not accepted. 
• Accepted contributions will be limited to one presentation and/or poster abstract per author. Similarly, we aim to avoid more than one presentation on a single initiative/project. 
• Submissions advertising commercial products and/or services will not be considered. 
• Only submissions in English will be considered, in line with the official language of the conference. 
• All submitted contributions will be peer-reviewed, based on the criteria mentioned above. 
• Authors must ensure that they have obtained approval from their institution to attend the conference no later than the date on which the results are announced. 
• At least one of the authors should get registered and take part at the conference to make the presentation. 
• Only submissions under “Presentation – Parallel Sessions” format will be automatically considered for the LIBER Innovation Award. 
• Authors are encouraged to submit their accepted abstracts for publication in LIBER Quarterly, a fully peer-reviewed journal. Instructions for this can be found on the journal website, as can contact details for LIBER Quarterly’s managing editor. LIBER Quarterly is also accepting practice papers, more information for the submission process can be found here. 

For tips on writing abstracts, please see this link.

How to Submit Your Abstract

To submit an abstract, please visit the LIBER 2027 submissions portal. The deadline for submission of abstracts is the 10th of January 2027 at 23:59 CET.  

Please note that no further extension will be granted for the current deadline.

Notification of Acceptance

We expect to announce the outcomes of the peer review in mid-March 2027.

Note: This Call for Proposals has been assembled by LIBER’s Conference Programme Committee (CPC).

Contact

For any questions about this call, please contact us at liber2027@libereurope.org. 

Download the full call here