Call for Proposals: The 2025 BSA Annual Meeting

Activated Bibliography Session @ the 2025 BSA Annual Meeting

The Events Planning Sub-Committee of the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) invites our community of bookmakers and sellers, collectors, conservators, curators, educators, librarians, scholars, and students to submit proposals for a session centered on the myriad ways we activate bibliographical histories and practices. The session will take place during the BSA’s 2025 annual meeting in New York City and will be open to all registered participants of Bibliography Week.

We are especially interested in proposals that include interactive, hands-on, and/or pedagogical activities and demonstrations that engage and inspire Bibliography Week participants. We encourage proposers to make creative use of the allotted time (see below) and to consider incorporating mixed learning modalities—visual, auditory, and tactile—into their session. Proposal examples include, but are not limited to, activities for teaching diverse bibliographical histories and practices, book arts demonstrations, workshops for community engagement with print materials, and zine making.

We welcome proposals from individuals as well as those working together to create a panel or group session. Individual proposals ought to work with a 20-minute time frame to allow for introductions, moderation, and Q&A. Session proposals ought to work with a 80-minute time frame, factoring in introductions, moderation, and Q&A. 

As in all BSA-sponsored events, proposers are encouraged to center the material text—that is, handwritten, printed, or other textual artifacts, broadly conceived—as historical evidence and to suggest how their work advances the theory and practice of descriptive, historical, and/or critical bibliography.

About the Annual Meeting

The BSA Annual Meeting will be held in New York City on Friday, January 24, 2025. The New Scholars program will commence, as in 2024, at 1pm. The Activated Bibliography Session will be held from 10 to 11:30am, preceding lunch and the 2025 New Scholars Program.

How to submit a proposal:

• Proposers must be active members of the BSA. Please log in to the website and follow the prompts to access member benefits. A link will be provided to submit your proposal.

• Include the following:

  • a title;

  • a description of the presentation (250 words maximum for individuals, 750 words maximum for sessions);

  • a description of technological and materials support you require; and

  • a brief bio for each person involved in the proposal.

Deadline for proposals: September 23, 2024, 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time

Those submitting successful proposals will be notified by October 15, 2024.