VLA President Nancy Falciani and VLA Conference Chair Kelsey Cheshire welcome you to the Opening General Session of the 2026 VLA Conference!
We will honor our Award & Scholarship Winners for all of their hard work and dedication and hear acceptance speeches from VLA 2026 Book Award winners.
Our keynote address will be delivered by Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, a leader in collective care practice for library workers, workplaces, and organizations. She earned her MSLS from the historic Clark Atlanta University School of Library and Information Studies. Known for her groundbreaking studies on library workplace morale, Kendrick is committed to centering self-preservation, creativity, and empathy in the workplace and promoting career clarity and rejuvenation to workers. Kendrick is the Founder of Kendrick Consulting and Communications, LLC, and she is the 2024 2025 Follett Chair with the Dominican University School of Information Studies. In 2019, she was named the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Academic/Research Librarian of the Year.
