About PLA 2026 Conference

PLA is committed to being the most inclusive and effective organization we can be, and we appreciate our members’ questions and perspectives as we strive toward this goal. To this end, staff work diligently on every PLA conference planning cycle to avoid all major religious holidays and observances. However, as more states pass discriminatory and/or library-adverse laws and few cities have adequate capacity to host more than 8,000 people, finding locations and times in our late February to April conference window has become more challenging. Currently, conference planning is even more difficult because there is a backlog of rescheduled conferences from the pandemic. 

We regret that the PLA 2026 Conference dates overlap with both Good Friday (April 3, 2026) and Passover (April 1–9, 2026) and recognize this will impact some members' ability to participate fully. Attendees who cannot attend in person are encouraged to take advantage of our Virtual Conference offerings. For those attending in person, PLA is working with the city of Minneapolis to provide as many resources and opportunities to observe these holidays as possible for our attendees. This includes working with our catering partners and venue to provide appropriate food options and identifying local places of worship, and we will continue to provide updates as we have them leading up to April. 

This overlap has only happened once in more than 40 years, and we will continue to work diligently to avoid religious holidays, communicate clearly if a conflict is unavoidable, and make accommodations as best we can if this occurs. Thank you for your engagement with PLA as we continue to strive toward our goals for equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice.