2026 PASCAL Member Conference

Join us for the PASCAL General Membership Meeting. All PASCAL members and partners are invited to attend.

This meeting will be held in a hybrid format, allowing attendees to participate either online or on-site at the SC Commission on Higher Education office in Columbia, SC.

Meeting materials will be available prior to meeting on the members' General Membership Meetings page (member login required).

Libraries spend considerable time, money, and effort strengthening their collections for the benefit of their constituents, and rightly so. However, it is now an old adage that a single library alone cannot meet all needs. Yet we sometimes forget. With a strictly local focus, we neglect something that could make our collections even stronger – our connections. This presentation will focus on how we can strengthen both our collections and our connections through shared print.

As libraries confront increasing restrictions imposed through publisher and aggregator licensing, a growing national movement is emerging to reclaim access and preservation through the law. Drawing on work with the eBook Study Group (ESG), this keynote examines how states are coming together to advance coordinated legal strategies that push back against restrictive licensing regimes imposed on libraries that undermine their mission. By leveraging copyright exceptions, contract law, consumer protection statutes, procurement policies, and other tools, libraries can turn constraining frameworks into opportunities. This keynote highlights how collective legal action is helping libraries fulfill their enduring mission in today’s digital landscape.