Ruth Jenkins - Executive Officer Jul 10, 2025
Mercian 2025: Resilience, Relevance & Reach – Libraries Making an Impact!
Date: Wednesday, 10 September 2025
Location: Techno Centre, Coventry University Technology Park
Hashtag: #Mercian25 on Bluesky and #Mercian25 on X
Bookings now open for Mercian 2025, the annual in-person conference from the Mercian Collaboration.
Conference Focus:
This year’s theme is how libraries are adapting to challenges like staffing, resources, and funding, while also exploring new, creative solutions.
Expect:
- Inspiring keynote & leader discussions
- Interactive workshops & poster sessions
- Sponsor exhibition
Keynote Speaker: Dr Beth Montague-Hellen
Head of Library & Info Services at The Francis Crick Institute
Author of Practical Tips for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Libraries (2024)
Sponsors
We’re grateful to our sponsors for supporting the event!
Platinum:
- AM Digital
Gold:
- Bloomsbury
- Brown’s Books
- Burgundy Info Services
- Clarivate
- Coherent Digital
- EBSCO
- Gale Cengage
- OCLC
- Overton
- Prenax
- Third Iron
- Taylor & Francis
Community-led (Gold):
- Open Book Collective
Silver:
- Reassurance Security Services
All sponsorship funds support venue, catering, and speaker costs.
Booking Info
Booking Form
Opens: 10 July 2025
Closes: 13 August 2025
Important:
- Everyone attending (delegates, speakers, sponsors) must complete the booking form.
- Attendance is free for staff from Mercian Collaboration universities.
- Each university gets 3 delegate places, not including presenters.
- Extra requests or bookings from non-members will go on a waiting list.
New Delegate Travel Bursary pilot scheme available!
We are launching a new Delegate Travel Bursary scheme to support potential delegates and member institutions as follows:
- Gaining individual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) experience by attending and participating in the annual conference.
- Recognising and mitigating barriers to attendance, such as additional costs incurred due to using accessible transportation.
- Providing CPD opportunities and mitigating training and development costs.
Apply through the booking form. Full terms are here: Mercian Collaboration Delegate Travel Bursary scheme
Questions?
Learn more about Mercian 25 Conference homepage
Email: mercianconference@gmail.com
Organised by the Mercian Collaboration – a network of university libraries in the East and West Midlands.
Contact: Paul Cavanagh (Conference Chair) – paul.cavanagh@nottingham.ac.uk and Ruth Jenkins (Mercian Officer) – ruth.jenkins@sconul.ac.uk
Published 10th July 2025
