A week of events surrounding the annual Ex Libris Users of North America (ELUNA) annual meeting is a unique opportunity for the Ex Libris community to convene in person for five energetic days of listening, learning and sharing. This year’s high-energy set of events (held May 13-17 in Minneapolis, MN) included in-depth training across flagship services Alma and Primo, developer discussions about unique innovations, in-depth presentations around library analytics, and “building bridges” across an extensive program during the ELUNA Annual Meeting.
More than 800 attendees turned up to participate in a roster of dynamic educational sessions, inspiring presentations, social activities, and critical ad hoc conversations among Ex Libris staff and community members. This gathering represents the 3rd largest in the history of ELUNA. Attendees came from all across North America, with some coming from Europe and as far as Australia.
All of the events together proved to be an exceptional opportunity to strengthen community ties, build friendships, and further cement our vital partnership with the ELUNA-member libraries we serve.
A focus on moving libraries forward
Ex Libris leaders presented five plenary sessions focused on future of libraries during the ELUNA 2024 Annual Meeting. Yariv Kursh, General Manager and Senior Vice President of Clarivate Library Software kicked things off with a visionary overview of the Ex Libris strategy to responsibly harness technologies like generative AI and Linked Open Data in response to the evolving needs and expectation of libraries and their users.
Plenary sessions extended the concepts and opportunities highlighted by Kursh. A focus on customer success and Ex Libris professional services was delivered by Melissa Hilbert (VP of Implementation Services) and Osnat Vilenchik (VP Content Operation); continued innovation across library management solutions highlighted VP of Product Management Asaf Kline’s session; next generation library discovery and the launch of Primo Research Assistant represented the keynote topics discussed by Yisrael Kuchar (Director of Product Management); and leveraging technology to advance student engagement was the focal point presented by Eyal Kirshner (VP of Product Management).
These sessions highlighted new and upcoming product enhancements developed in partnership with the ELUNA community, as well as the announcement of two new AI-enhanced library solutions: Collecto, a unified environment to manage all aspects of collection development; and Specto, unified management of all digital assets in a library collection.
Opportunities to learn from and celebrate each other
The real heart of the week – and the Ex Libris community in general – is the occasion to share knowledge, feedback, best practices, challenges, and achievements. Many of these discussions occurred throughout myriad more than 150 conference sessions presented by community members and Ex Libris staff. Many more of these conversations took place more candidly during meals and social activities, in 1:1 meetings, and at the Ex Libris booth as part of the vendor exhibition.
These opportunities to listen and learn from the ELUNA community are essential to work we do at Ex Libris. Our team is profoundly grateful for all the insights and feedback we gathered throughout the event.
And while gathering in person to see familiar faces and make new friends is what makes the ELUNA conference so special, the work of this community happens all year long.
To learn more and get involved, check out upcoming ELUNA online sessions. And don’t forget to mark your calendar for ELUNA 2025 in Atlanta!
Visit the Ex Libris community for more information on how we collaborate with our user groups.
