Our Presentations

The team has presented at numerous conferences over the years—explore a selection of recent and past presentations from the project’s inception.

Librarian First Responders: Transforming Public Services in the Wake of Natural Disasters

Tu-Keefner, F. (2026, May 7-8). Librarian first responders: Transforming public services in the wake of natural disasters – A keynote speech. Presented at Rendez-vous des Bibliothèques Publiques du Québec, Montréal, Canada.

May 8, 2026 — Québec, Montréal, Canada

South Carolina Library Association Conference

Dr. Feili Tu-Keefner, April Hobbs, and Denise Lyons. “Librarian First Responders: Transforming Public Library Services in the Wake of Natural Disasters.

October 29, 2025 — Columbia, South Carolina

Librarian First Responders: Transforming Public Services in the Wake of Natural Disasters

Tu-Keefner, F., Lyons, D. R., & Hobbs, A. (2025, October 27-30). Librarian first responders: Transforming public library services in the wake of natural disasters. Presented at the South Carolina Library Association 2025 Annual Conference, Columbia, SC.

October 29, 2025 — Columbia, South Carolina

NNLM Region 2 Emergency Response and Preparedness Advisory Committee

Panel Presentation: Dr. Feili Tu-Keefner with E. Salina, P.M. Lazaro. “Crisis Leadership for Libraries: Equipping Library Personnel to be Librarian First Responders.” (https://musc.libcal.com/event/15505717)

October 17, 2025

Regional Medical Libraries Training

Dr. Feili Tu-Keefner and April Hobbs. “Strengthening our foundation: Disaster preparedness, community resilience, and the future of libraries.” (https://www.nnlm.gov/training/class/strengthening-our-foundation-disaster-preparedness-community-resilience-and-future)

September 11, 2025

Librarian First Responders: Transforming Public Library Services in the Wake of Natural Disasters

Tu-Keefner, F., Lyons, D., & Hobbs, A. (2025, August 18-22). Librarian First Responders: Transforming Public Library Services in the Wake of Natural Disasters—A keynote presentation sponsored by IFLA Evidence for Global Disaster Health Special Interest Group. Presented at the 89th IFLA World Library and Information Congress, Astana, Kazakhstan. https://iflawlic2025.abstractserver.com/program/#/details/sessions/153

August 18-22, 2025 — Astana, Kazakhstan

IFLA Evidence for Global Disaster Health Special Interest Group, 89th IFLA World Library and Information Congress

Dr. Feili Tu-Keefner, Denise Lyons, and April Hobbs. “Librarian First Responders: Transforming Public Library Services in the Wake of Natural Disasters.” (https://iflawlic2025.abstractserver.com/program/#/details/sessions/153)

August 18-22, 2025 — Astana, Kazakhstan

ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition

Dr. Marcia Mardis, Dr. Feili Tu-Keefner, Denise Lyons, April Hobbs, and Dr. Denise Gomez. “Is your library ready? Strengthening community resiliency with inclusive public library disaster planning.”

June 5, 2025 — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition

Denise Lyons, Dr. Marcia Mardis, and Rebekkah Smith Aldrich. “Disaster Response and Sustainability: How Libraries Are Using Federal Funds To Support Communities.”

June 5, 2025 — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Librarian First Responders: Transforming Public Library Services in the Wake of Natural Disasters

May 23, 2025

Chinese American Librarians Association Southeast & Southwest Chapters Joint Conference

Dr. Feili Tu-Keefner. “Librarian first responders: Transforming public library services in the wake of natural disasters.”

May 23, 2025 — Virtual

Kentucky Public Library Association Annual Conference,

Dr. Marcia Mardis, Dr. Feili Tu-Keefner, Denise Lyons, April Hobbs, Faye Jones, and Dr. Denise Gomez. “Utilizing stories for resilience: Shaping public library services in the wake of natural disasters.”

February, 19-21, 2025 — Lexington, Kentucky