Thank you for joining us at METRO's 2022 Annual Meeting! We are so glad you are here. 

Agenda
10:00am – 10:15am
Welcome and Opening Remarks by Board President Shannon Mattern
 
10:15am – 10:40am
Remarks from Executive Director Nate Hill
 
10:40am – 11:10am
Reports from program directors Davis Erin Anderson, Diego Pino, and Colin Rhinesmith
 
11:10am - 11:15am
Introduction of keynote speaker Emily Drabinski

11:15pm – 12:00pm
Keynote presentation by Emily Drabinski

Essential to the Public: Libraries at the End of the World
Soon after Covid-19 sent New York City into lockdown, the state designated some of us as essential workers. Delivery drivers were placed at risk in order to protect white collar workers from harm. Corporate profits soared alongside death counts. When library workers were directed to return to buildings, we were deemed essential too. But essential to whom? Library spaces, collections, and services are essential to the public good, one of the last remaining non-commercial entities taking up literal space in the city. This talk asks how we might make ourselves and our publics more essential than profit in the wake of this crisis and in anticipation of the next one.

Emily Drabinski is Critical Pedagogy Librarian at the CUNY Graduate Center and incoming President-Elect of the American Library Association.

12:00pm - 1:00pm
Please join us for a social hour immediately following our meeting. You're welcome to enjoy the view from the terrace.