Call for papers | Middle East Librarians Association (MELA) Annual Meeting 2026 “Redefining and Restating Middle East Librarianship in our Current Moment”, Harvard University in Cambridge, 19-21 November 2026 — LIMITE : 15/07/2026

MELA 2026: Redefining and Restating Middle East Librarianship in our Current Moment

The Middle East Librarians Association (MELA) will hold its 2026 Annual Meeting from November 19 to 21, 2026. This year’s meeting will be hosted by Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. To accommodate our global community, the conference will be a hybrid event with in-person sessions on campus and virtual access provided via Zoom.

This meeting is scheduled to conclude just as the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) 2026 conference begins (November 21-24) at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza in nearby Boston. We hope this proximity allows members to attend both gatherings easily.

CFP: The Programming Committee invites proposals for panels, individual papers, or roundtable discussions that address our theme: Redefining and Restating Middle East Librarianship in our Current Moment.

Middle East librarianship is currently navigating a period of significant transition. Our profession faces a convergence of institutional austerity, rapid technological shifts, and the continued destruction of cultural heritage in the regions we document. At the same time, the field is reckoning with how to maintain the “human aspect” of librarianship while fully integrating digital tools and methodologies.

For the 2026 meeting, we also specifically seek to honor the legacy of András Riedlmayer (1947-2026), longtime Bibliographer and Director at the Documentation Center of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture in Harvard’s Fine Arts Library and a preeminent expert on the destruction of cultural heritage. His work on the Balkans and his dedication to documenting the erasure of culture serve as a vital backdrop for our discussions this year.

The following might serve as welcome proposal topics, but by no means are topics limited to these:

• The place of the “human” in the wake of emerging technologies
• Advancements in cataloging and resource description for Middle East & North African resources
• Austerity and the Middle East librarianship profession in crisis
• Collecting diaspora or minority language materials of the Middle East & North Africa
• Ephemera and “born-digital” collecting of the Middle East & North Africa
• Critical pedagogy in area studies librarianship
• Cultural heritage under threat
• Digital preservation of at-risk archives

Collections Showcase:  We also invite members to propose lightning talks (3 min / one slide) on recently acquired, processed and/or digitized collections across formats and media. 

Submission guidelines:  Proposals and abstracts should be submitted by July 15, 2026. The committee will notify applicants of their status by August 31, 2026. 

For all presentations: 

• These should be planned for 20 minutes (including Q&A).
• A limited number of one-hour slots for roundtables and panels are available. Roundtables and panels should include no more than five participants, including the moderator. Please include the names of all participants in the proposal.
• Please indicate whether you intend to present in-person in Cambridge or virtually.
• For on-site presenters, laptops and displays will be provided. If you are demonstrating a live website or database, we recommend having backup screenshots in case of connectivity issues.

Please submit your proposals to the MELA 2026 Submission Form.

For any other program-related questions, please contact (vpresident[at]mela.us).

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