[Sent to all LOEX members on 4/17/26]

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LOEX Members:

Each year during the annual LOEX conference (which will be held this year in Norfolk, VA, May 7-9), we announce the location of our next annual conference. This year, we are making a strategic change to annual conferences going forward, and we wanted to share this news with you earlier, providing appropriate background and context. 

LOEX 2027 will be held exclusively online in May 2027. Thereafter, LOEX conferences will alternate between an online and in-person format every other year, with the next in-person annual conference slated for May 2028.

We arrived at this decision after many months of deliberation within the LOEX Board of Trustees. Two major factors drove our decision:
- Lower conference attendance and financial viability. For LOEX in-person conferences to be financially viable and remain reasonably affordable for attendees, attendance at in-person conferences must typically exceed 350 people. This was regularly achievable pre-pandemic, but since 2022, attendance has been much more variable (with location and timing having a big impact). Especially during the years that ACRL conferences occur, LOEX attendance has usually been lower. Rising costs of hosting in-person professional development events have also made annual face-to-face conferences increasingly difficult to sustain.
- Advantages of online conferences. We know that LOEX members experience varying degrees of support for professional development and travel, and that many have experienced funding reductions in recent years. Providing affordable online conferences offers a more equitable opportunity for LOEX members to attend conferences from a financial standpoint. It also enables attendance for people for whom travel may be more difficult due to life circumstances. We have seen significant interest and high levels of attendance for online offerings that LOEX has hosted in the recent past, such as our biannual Fall Focus.

We recognize that LOEX in-person conferences provide incredible value and connection opportunities that are difficult to fully replicate online, which is why we plan to offer annual conferences in both formats for the foreseeable future, alternating each year. Accordingly, our anticipated schedule for our annual May conferences are:

- LOEX 2026 (May 7-9, Norfolk, VA)
- LOEX 2027 – online
- LOEX 2028 – in-person (location TBD)
- LOEX 2029 – online
- LOEX 2030 – in-person (location TBD)
…and so on. 

In addition to these annual May conferences, LOEX will continue hosting online Fall Focus conferences, first held in November 2023 and most recently in November 2025. We will host our next Fall Focus in November 2027.

We know this might be a big change for some—it certainly is for us here at LOEX. However, we want to make sure we commit our resources effectively, take acceptable risks, and use everyone’s time wisely while giving ample opportunity to volunteer, present, and attend. We are pleased to have recently expanded LOEX’s engagement offerings beyond the annual conference (e.g., starting the Fall Focus; conducting Community Conversations) but also recognize the importance of the annual conference. We are committed to sustaining high-quality professional learning opportunities in multiple modalities for years to come. We will continue to seek feedback and monitor engagement, and will be prepared to make additional adjustments as needed.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments. Also, please reach out if you would like to be considered to host a future LOEX conference in your city, in 2028 or later. We are eager to hear from you.

Best,
Laura W. Gariepy, Ph.D.
President, LOEX Board of Trustees

Brad Sietz
LOEX Director