2025 Keynote Presentations
Watch the Opening and Closing Keynote presentations here for free! Bookmark this page and revisit later.
- Opening Keynote — Monday, March 24, 8:45 am Central — 🎥 Watch Archived Presentation for Free
- Closing Keynote — Wednesday, March 26, 11:20 am Central — 🎥 Watch Archived Presentation for Free
Small Changes, Big Impact: Building a Work Environment That Supports Everyone
Monday, March 24, 2025 | 8:45-9:45 am Central Time
A workplace where people feel supported and energized doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built with intention. This presentation will explore practical, evidence-based strategies to create a healthier work environment. We’ll discuss the often-overlooked factors that impact well-being, from the emotional labor involved in daily interactions to the influence of physical spaces. You’ll learn how small, thoughtful changes can improve team focus, connection, and morale. We’ll also share simple practices to help staff feel more grounded and equipped to handle everyday challenges.
Bobbi L. Newman is a librarian, Certified Wellness Practitioner, and workplace well-being consultant dedicated to creating healthier, more productive, and psychologically safe workplaces. With over a decade of experience in libraries, she takes an evidence-based approach to reducing burnout and enhancing employee satisfaction and workplace well-being.
As the founder and director of Thrive: Transforming Workplace Well-Being, Bobbi provides consulting, training, and coaching to help organizations build supportive workplace cultures. She is the author of Fostering Wellness in the Workplace: A Handbook for Libraries and editor of Well-Being in the Library Workplace: A Handbook for Managers.
Bobbi is also the voice behind the award-winning blog Librarian by Day. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The L.A. Times. Through engaging keynotes and workshops, she equips teams with research-backed, practical strategies to foster lasting workplace well-being.
What is Happening? The Rapid Pace of Political Change Has Shifted the Narrative And Our Foundations. How to Regain Our Footing and Stabilize Our Next Steps.
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | 11:20 am – 12:20 pm Central Time
ER&L 2025 will take place eight weeks into the new administration. The torrent of executive orders, funding disruptions, firings, and incursions into government agencies has left many feeling alarmed and uncertain. The weaponization of research, publishing mandates, grants and funding changes, and curricular demands have already been impacting higher education and the executive orders keep coming. In this closing keynote, we’ll endeavor to deconstruct the maneuvers and assess the best way forward with panelists who understand the policies, game plans, tactics in use and the ramifications for universities and libraries.
Dr. Amy Reid is the Senior Manager, Freedom to Learn, at PEN America, where she works to support higher education and to push back against legislative censorship on our campuses. Dr. Yvonne M. Eadon, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky’s School of Information Science whose interdisciplinary research focuses on fringe conspiratorial research cultures and mis- and disinformation studies. Dr. Lucy Santos Green, is the Director of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Iowa and the 23-24 President of the Association for Library and Information Science Education. Kathleen McEvoy, is a Senior Policy Fellow at The EveryLibrary Institute, and longtime library industry and communications expert.
While “getting political” may be uncomfortable, politics leads to policies that will directly impact universities and the businesses that support them. The Greek statesman Pericles is quoted as saying, “We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.” Today, that Pericles quote has evolved into: “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.”
