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Academic & Special Libraries Section of the LAI

Academic & Special Libraries (A&SL) are a section of the Library Association of Ireland (LAI).

We cater for the needs of librarians and information professionals working in academic, research, not-for-profit, corporate and other specialist libraries.

Collaboration and community building are at the heart of the Academic and Special Libraries groups, and the committee organises a number of networking events throughout the year. Our main event in the year is the annual conference which is open to the wider information and library professional community, we also host regular networking events and partner with our colleagues across other LAI groups to share professional practice and knowledge share on current topics and challenges within the profession.

A&SL Logo

ASL 2027

We are thrilled to announce that the Academic and Special Libraries Conference is returning on 9th April 2027.

Add the date to your diary to join us next year in the @royalirishacademy
in Dublin.

Our #ASL2027 conference theme announcement and call for papers is coming soon!

Giles and Buffy in a Library

A&SL Blog Post Competition

The representation of librarianship, libraries and information work in media and popular culture

We were saddened to hear of the death of Anthony Stewart Head this month, beloved by many as the actor who portrayed Rupert (Ripper) Giles in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Inspired by his role as one of pop culture’s most iconic fictional librarians, we are running a blog post competition on the theme ‘The representation of librarianship, libraries and information work in media and popular culture’.

We’re inviting library staff and LIS students based in Ireland to submit a blog post that explores how library staff, libraries and information work are portrayed across film, television, literature, art, social media, gaming, news media or other cultural formats

Find out more >>>

LAI A&SL Presentations

#ASL Conference Presentations

If you couldn’t make it to the conference or would like to go back and review presentations that resonated with you, no problem. Videos from the previous ASL conferences are available to view on our YouTube channel.

Find out more >>>

News and Updates

Follow A&SL for news and events updates