The Texas Conference on Digital Libraries convened in-person June 2-4, 2026 at the Commons Conference Center in Austin, Texas.
The conference brought together over 150 librarians, archivists, technologists, students, and information professionals to share their latest endeavors, to inspire each other with pioneering projects and ideas, and to celebrate their work in libraries and archives. All of us at Texas Digital Library found this year’s conference insightful (and a lot of fun) and we cannot wait to see you all again next year!
Conference proceedings will be published soon in the TDL DSpace repository.
The theme of the 2026 conference, Finding Joy! Playful Innovation and Community in Action, invited attendees to explore lighthearted creativity, resilient collaboration, and joyful transformation within our digital environments. Presentations and activities highlighted how infusing joy and play into our daily workflows and shared spaces strengthens community impact.
Post-Conference Survey
We value your feedback and hope you’ll take some time to complete the TCDL 2026 Post-Conference Survey, in order to make next year’s conference even better. It should take less than 10 minutes.
The survey will close on Monday, June 22, 2026.
Take a look at our photo album and read more to relive a few highlights from this year’s conference. Thank you for joining us at TCDL 2026!
Keynote Speakers
Jessie Contour, Associate Professor of Practice, Department of Arts and Entertainment Technologies, UT Austin and Kelcey Gray, Associate Professor of Practice, Department of Design, UT Austin, opened the conference with a keynote address entitled “Illuminating Dropcaps: The Magic of the Collaborative Process”.
Their talk perfectly captured the spirit of “Playful Innovation” by charting their journey from co-teaching a course to designing Dropcaps. They inspired attendees to remain receptive to the magic of sudden inspiration while demonstrating how a deeply shared process can enrich creative outcomes. Ultimately, their infectious enthusiasm and joyful collaboration offered a vibrant blueprint for building energetic, resilient connections within our own digital library communities.
Honoring Awards Recipients
The TCDL Opening Plenary was also a time to honor and recognize recipients of the 2026 TDL Awards. These awards honor Texas-based individuals and groups that have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of digital libraries.
Photo from left to right:
- Mark Philips, Associate University Librarian, University of North Texas (accepted the award on behalf of the Texas History for Teachers Project)
- Kristin Clark, Director of Digital Strategies and Scholarship, Texas Woman’s University
- Matthew McEniry, Director of the Digital Scholarship Lab, Texas Tech University
- Jacob Lord, Student, University of North Texas
- Ana Krahmer, Director of the Texas Digital Newspaper Program, University of North Texas
Student Scholarship Recipients
The TCDL Student Scholarship program is made possible by a generous anonymous donation from TDL members. Congratulations to all!
- Daniel Esparza, University of North Texas
- Sarah Eubanks, University of North Texas
- Luz Gonzalez, University of Texas at Austin
- Audrey Waite, University of Texas at Austin
Read more about our scholarship recipients’ experiences at TCDL: Luz Gonzalez, Daniel Esparza, Audrey Waite, and Sarah Eubanks
Best Poster Winner
Abigail Fosburgh’s poster “Digitizing Texas Government Documents: The Big and Chunky Project” was voted as the Best Poster of TCDL 2026. Abigail is a student and serves as the Digital Imaging Assistant at the University of North Texas. Congratulations!
Featured Sessions and Activities
This year’s focus on “Playful Innovation” truly came alive during our breakout tracks and community activities. A few notable moments included:
- Poster Scavenger Hunt
- Book Drive
- Panel: “A Day in the Life of an Academic Librarian”
- Treasure Hunt Game
Gratitude for Our Sponsors
The Texas Conference on Digital Libraries was generously supported by our sponsors: TIND, AM Quartex, Library Juice Academy, EBSCO, The Portal to Texas History, 4Science, Digital Bedrock, and Texas Woman’s University School of Library and Information Studies.
Collage of sponsor logos in order from top to bottom:
- Architect Level: TIND
- Visionary Level: AM Quartex, Library Juice Academy, EBSCO, The Portal to Texas History, and 4Science
- Collaborator Level: Digital Bedrock
- Innovator Level: Texas Woman’s University School of Library & Information Studies
We are also grateful to TDL’s institutional members, whose membership underwrites and plans conference programming.
Thank You
We are grateful to all of the volunteers, attendees, and speakers who made TCDL 2026 a success. A special thank you to the TCDL Planning Committee for their dedication and time in working on the conference throughout the year.
TCDL 2026 Planning Committee
- Chair: Elliot Williams, University of Texas at San Antonio
- Vice Chair: Isabelle Antes, Texas State University
- Seyed Abdollah Shahrokni, Texas A&M University
- Gab Alderete-Cruz, Texas State University
- Maria Balduf, UNT Health Fort Worth
- Cristina Berron, University of Texas at Austin
- Sarah Lynn Fisher, University of North Texas
- Meagan Hernandez, Texas Digital Library
- Susan Hoover, University of Houston
- Ke’ara Hunt, Texas Digital Library
- Whitney Johnson-Freeman, University of North Texas
- Jean Jolly, Tarrant County College
- Tom Lyons, UNT Health Fort Worth
- Marcia McIntosh, University of North Texas
- Devon Murphy, University of Texas at Austin
- Phebe Raglin, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
- Adriance Rhoades, Texas Woman’s University
- Megan Scott, Rice University
- Marian Smith, University of Houston
- Michelle Speed, Baylor University
- Ateanna Uriri, Texas A&M University
- Millicent Weber, Baylor University
Stay tuned for future announcements about TCDL 2027! Connect with Texas Digital Library so you never miss a TCDL update.