Conference on Academic Library Management 2026

In Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks discusses the importance of theorizing as a necessary act for hope and taking up more inclusive practices. Theorizing with communities means prompting dialogue with different people and groups to collectively make changes at the micro (personal) to macro (policy) levels at our libraries. When we take up leadership praxis (theory informed practice) with our communities using participatory methods, we ensure librarians are working with people. This closing keynote theorizes (with you) what hope and action means for library managers in practice.

Silvia Vong (PhD, M.Ed., MLIS) is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. She is a former academic librarian of 15 years with experience as an administrator and middle management. Silvia’s research areas are related to management as well as the library as a workplace and now teaches a leadership course for future librarians.