Partnering for Growth: Planning a Joint State Conference

Purpose: This lightning talk will describe a successful conference planning partnership between a small state medical library association and other state library organizations. Setting/participants/resources: The Kentucky Medical Library Association (KMLA) partnered with the Kentucky Association of College and Research Libraries, (KACRL), Kentucky Libraries Association Special Libraries Roundtable (KLA), and the Special Libraries Association – Kentucky Chapter (SLA) to plan a Joint Spring Conference in April 2022.

Brief description: The idea for this partnership arose when the leaders of KACRL, KLA, and SLA noticed that their annual conference attendance had been decreasing for several years. At the same time, the KMLA was having trouble growing beyond its current membership and wanted to find ways to network and build relationships with larger state organizations. KMLA leadership reached out to the Joint Spring Conference planning committee to offer to participate in organizing the 2022 conference and were invited to participate on a trial basis. During this lightning talk, we will discuss how our small medical library association was an integral partner in the conference planning. We will share opportunities and challenges in the planning process in order for attendees to consider partnerships with their own state library organizations.

Results/outcome: The partnership formed between KMLA, KACRL, KLA, and SLA led to immediate benefits including increased engagement among librarians from different state organizations and a financial benefit for the KMLA. The conference planning experience was valuable for all the state organizations and the KMLA has been invited to jointly host the spring conference again in 2023.