Empowering an Informed Communities: A Librarian's Playbook

2026 WLA Presidential Summit

Thursday, December 3, 2026 | Online | 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM

Home | Agenda | Speakers | Registration

Join library professionals, educators, and community leaders for a dynamic day of learning focused on media literacy, artificial intelligence, misinformation, and strategies for strengthening informed communities.

As AI tools become increasingly integrated into everyday life, libraries play a critical role in helping patrons navigate information, evaluate sources, and engage thoughtfully with emerging technologies. This event will explore today's rapidly changing information landscape while providing practical tools, resources, and frameworks that librarians can use in their work.

Participants will hear from nationally recognized experts, engage in discussions on health and wellness misinformation, explore evolving AI guidance for libraries, and participate in interactive breakout sessions focused on real-world applications and community engagement.

Meet Our Speakers:

Jevin West is the co-founder of the new Center for an Informed Public at UW aimed at resisting strategic misinformation, promoting an informed society and strengthening democratic discourse. His research and teaching focus on the impact of data and technology on science and society, with a focus on slowing the spread of misinformation. He is the co-author of the new book, Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World, which helps non-experts question numbers, data, and statistics without an advanced degree in data science.

Chris Coward is a Senior Principal Research Scientist and Affiliate Associate Professor at the University of Washington Information School. His research examines how people navigate complex information environments, with a particular focus on designing approaches that foster individual and community agency. Recent work includes the creation of escape rooms and other play-based experiences informed by sociocultural approaches to information, media, and civic literacy. Chris works closely with communities around the world to co-design, implement, and study interventions in culturally diverse contexts, frequently partnering with public libraries as sites of learning and community-based action.

Rachel E. Moran Ph.D (she/her) is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington’s Information School. Moran received her doctoral degree in 2020 from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Her research explores the role of trust in information environments and is particularly concerned with how trust is implicated in the spread of mis- and dis-information.

Shahan Ali Memon is a PhD Candidate at the University of Washington Information School, studying how AI is impacting science and education. Shahan holds a Master of Science in Language Technologies from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and has been a member of the Washington Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction’s AI Advisory Group for K-12 education. He is also a research affiliate at New York University in Abu Dhabi.