Call for papers and participation at the 22nd Serbian Library Association Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION
at the 22nd Serbian Library Association Conference
LIBRARIES IN A SOCIETY OF RAPID CHANGES
Subotica City Library
15‒17 December 2025
By organizing the 22nd Annual International Conference Libraries in a Society of Rapid Changes, the Serbian Library Association (SLA) brings the topic of new roles, operational methods, and realization of the mission of libraries into the focus of the library and broader cultural community. It also addresses the phenomenon of libraries as multifunctional, complex, and essential factors in stimulating cultural development and creating the cultural life of communities. A comprehensive approach to this topic includes various aspects of work of librarians and libraries, which, due to specific global social changes and needs, are transforming and require the creation of new and modified cultural content offerings. In conditions of increasingly rapid changes, libraries are becoming dynamic spaces of knowledge, exchange, and cooperation – places that combine access to knowledge, information, informal education, creativity, and social dialogue.
The conference aims to illuminate how the work of libraries and librarians adapts to new user needs and contributes to community development through innovative programs, modern content, and support for lifelong learning. It also seeks to empower professionals in the library and information services, as well as other experts and collaborators in culture, education, and science, to timely anticipate, adapt, and assume a proactive role in new social circumstances, and to develop new competencies and skills to enhance the work and role of librarians and libraries.
The conference is open to sharing theoretical considerations, practical information and experiences, examples of good practice, and successful activities and projects implemented with high-quality and measurable results and adequate responses that influence the transformation of the role of librarians and libraries in a changing society.
The organizers invite interested authors to submit their full-text papers, offering current and innovative insights within one or more of this yearʼs conference subtopics, which relate to the new roles of libraries:
- Places for meeting new social needs of the community (trends in cultural content; creation of demand for higher quality and more current content; adjustment of programs and services to all social communities, multi-ethnic and multicultural environments, and migrations);
- Places of psychological support (support programs for vulnerable user categories resulting from social changes; bibliotherapy programs and specialized reading clubs; cooperation with institutions and organizations for mental health support; programs encouraging slow reading for pleasure);
- Centers for community cultural development (cultural diversity programs; exemplary models of library programs and services; encouraging reading and supporting reaching a high level of reading comprehension; cooperation with citizens, institutions, and organizations in forming and developing communities; initiatives for fulfilling cultural needs and achieving democratic values);
- Places for youth support (programs and spaces for teenagers; programs and services for young researchers and professionals; activities for including marginalized categories of youth in the library environment; partnerships with youth communities and associations);
- Platforms for cultural experiments and innovations (programs and projects that discover new roles for libraries; models of social participation; launching innovative social activities in libraries; inspiring library environments for creative freedom);
- Places of digital transformation (providing reliable, secure, and accessible digital services; supporting the understanding and management of technological innovations; new digital models in library services and the development of library collections).
- Places of informal education (educating users for equal participation in the knowledge society through the improvement of personal and professional competencies; developing skills for applying artificial intelligence; training librarians to work with different categories of users).
The proposed subtopics provide frameworks for thematic reflection, and the organizers encourage authors to be creative in proposing papers in line with the main theme of the conference.
FORMATS AND SUBMISSION OF PAPERS
The Conference will include working sessions, panel sessions, an invited lecture, poster presentations, workshops, and presentations by IT and sponsoring companies.
SLA encourages the use of Libre Impress or PowerPoint presentations, audio-visual content, Pecha Kucha, as well as other interactive dynamic ways for presenting ideas in short format.
Panel sessions and workshops, lasting from 45 to a maximum of 90 minutes, will facilitate dialogue between participants and the audience, promoting interactive engagement and teamwork. Proposals for panel sessions and workshops should include a working title, a thematic explanation, and a list of participants for panel sessions, or a target audience for workshops.
All authors interested in presenting papers within the working sessions are invited to submit full-text papers limited to 30,000 characters (with spaces) that should be prepared according to the Instructions for Authors.
All authors interested in poster presentations, panel sessions, and workshops should submit summaries of up to 300 words in both Serbian and English. These summaries should include authorship details, information about participants or the target audience, and contact information, all within a single document (Word, ODF, or PDF format).
We invite all interested authors to submit full-text papers or summaries for poster presentations, panel sessions, and workshops and information on the format (whether it is a proposal for a poster presentation, panel session, or workshop) to the email bds2025@bds.rs
Submissions can have a maximum of three authors.
The conference languages are Serbian and English.
REGISTRATION
Participants are required to pay a registration fee, which grants them access to all sessions, conference materials, and refreshments between working sessions.
The registration fee for the conference is 8,000 RSD, or €70 for international participants. For authors of accepted papers, posters, and panel sessions, the fee is 6,000 RSD, or €50 for international participants.
Regular members of the Serbian Library Association who have paid their membership fee for the current year by September 1, 2025, and students up to 27 years old are exempt from paying the registration fee.
Conference participants are responsible for their own travel and other expenses.
IMPORTANT DATES
Deadline for submission of papers: 10 September 2025. Papers submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.
Notification of acceptance: 20 October 2025
The program of the 22nd Conference will be published on the conference website by 10 November 2025
Registration for the conference: 1 October to 15 November 2025
Conference days: 15–17 December 2025
Conference Proceedings: 2026
