Academic Libraries North (ALN)

@academiclibsnorth.bsky.social

424 Followers 441 Following

A consortium of HE libraries in the North of England. https://www.academiclibrariesnorth.ac.uk/

Photographs show images from several of the ALN conference short papers, the networking areas and screens of information from presentations.
A collection of photographs from the ALN Conference in person day featuring people networking, screens with slides on them, workshops, the keynote, and the desserts table at lunch.
Caroline standing in front of a computer with the slides for her talk on the screen behind her.
A lecture theatre with a screen at the front showing Reimagining Openness in Academic Libraries.
A hand holds up a small booklet with the text Academic Libraries North passport ALN26 next to a window with "Welcome to Dalton" and the MMU logo on it.
The front of MMU's Poetry Library in sunshine.
An image of various Manchhester landmarks layered on top of each other. In the foreground is the Vimto statue. Behind this is Central Library. Behind this is the Dalton building. Behind this the John Rylands Library. Behind this is Old Trafford, the Beetham Tower and the Emirates. A mosaic bee is poking out from behind the tower, with a cloudy sky in the background.
A wobble cushion, an open notebook, a watercolour bottle with the aurora borealis on it, an open paper fan and a blue lanyard against green fleece.
A martini glass full of vibrant pink liquid with a cocktail stick with two cocktail cherries on it resting in it against a black cloth background.
Colourful sign made of wooden slats with the word welcome. Photo by Belinda Fewings via Unsplash
An illustration of a lighthouse sitting on a book with sea and sunshine behind. The speech bubble above the lighthouse contains the words "A library is lighthouse through the storms of ignorance" attribute to The retired School Librarian.
Poster advertising our the ALN26 Letters Competition. Features 4 photographs of office supplied that spell out the word open. ALN thank delegates for all the submission so far.
Billy Bee from Durham University Library showing off different wellbeing spaces and activities in their buildings, including jigsaws, diverse book collection and comfy seating.
Front cover of Stephen Pinfield's book entitle Achieving Global Open Access
Effective and equitable global open access presentation slide. Stephen Pinfield from University of Sheffield and Research on Research Institute (RoRI)
A lined notebook with "ALN Online Day" and "24th June 2026" handwritten on the top line is open with a black pen leant against it. Both are propped upright against a black rubber wobble cushion, next to a quarter full water bottle and a tub containing pomegranate seeds with a spoon in it. All items are in the seat of a chair draped in dark green fleece.
A white background the text "Our in person day is in Manchester" with an asterisk followed by a photo of the Manchester skyline at a distance with a large orange arrow pointing down. Below the photo in smaller text is the asterisk and a note "please do not use this photo for navigational purposes". Below that in larger text is "But our online day can be wherever you want in the galaxy!" with two asterisks and a photo of a starry night or galaxy petunia. Below that in smaller text is two asterisks and the text "provided location in galaxy is somewhere you can get to with internet access".
A lined notebook with "ALN Online Day" and "24th June 2026" handwritten on the top line is open with a black pen leant against it. Both are propped upright against a black rubber wobble cushion, next to a quarter full water bottle and a tub containing pomegranate seeds with a spoon in it.All items are in the seat of a chair draped in dark green fleece.
A black background with old-style computer text in green. This reads "Reimagining Openness in Academic Libraries. Online: 24th June, In-person: 6th July. Book your tickets now"
An image of a white wooden door, which is closed. A fluffy orange and white cat is stretched up against it, facing away. Text above the cat reads "Please reimagine the openness...", below it reads "...of this door"
A purple-ish blue background with a white calendar. The 6th of July is circled in orange. "ONE MONTH TO GO" is in capitals down the left side of the graphic. "Reimagining Openness in Academic Libraries" in black on an orange rectangle is on the top right of the graphic. Below it is a picture of Caroline, outlined in orange. Below that are two orange rectangles with "Keynote speaker: Caroline Ball" and "Online day: 6th July" in black writing.
A graphic with a pale blue background and a 3 by 4 grid of bird pictures, showing a Hummingbird, a Great Tit, a Robin, a Puffin, a Barn Owl, a Tui bird, a Stork, a Seagull, a Northern cardinal, a Stonechat, a Tern and a Red Kite.
An image of the "Chandler hugging an album" meme. Chandler Bing from "Friends" is asleep on a chair with headphones on - he's hugging a vinyl album - in this image it's a teal cover with three white question marks.
A photo of a smiling man in a navy suit with white hair and silver glasses, set against a background of lined paper with the text "Professor Stephen Pinfield" above the photo and "Keynote speaker at the online day of the ALN conference 2026- 24th June" in black text on a beige text box at the bottom right of the image.
A hand drawn map of central Manchester featuring close up circles of Piccadilly Station, Piccadilly Gardens Bus Station, St Peter's Square and Oxford Road Station and the ALN Venue. There is also a big orange arrow on the map pointing to the venue on Chester Street. Railways are marked in red, roads in grey unless pedestrianised in which case they are pink, bus stops and stations are purple, water is blue and tram lines and stops are yellow.
A bird's nest constructed of twigs, straw and moss, surrounded by green and red tinged leaves. No birds or eggs are visible in the photo.
A collage style graphic. A blue background, with grey clouds at the top and bottom. A hand holding an umbrella is poking out from a cloud. Cut out words: "Reimaging" "Openness" "In" "Academic" "Libraries" sit vertically, falling from the umbrella. A bee is by the hand. A yellow sun pokes out from behind the clouds. "What's on at ALN26" is written in cut out letters on the right hand side.
Images of brightly coloured doors covering background. Text overlayed, on the top right black text with a teal background: Reimagining Openness in Academic Libraries, on the bottom left, white text with a dark red background: Working in an ALN institution or studying in the North of England for a relevant qualification? Apply for a SPONSORED place at the Academic Libraries North Conference 2026.
"A post in the style of The Clash's "London Calling" album artwork. Text: "Manchester", in pink runs down the left of the image, "Calling" in green along the bottom. "ALN 26" in white at the top. The background is a black and white image of the Rochdale canal in Castlefield, looking towards the town centre, showing a lock, the tramline and the Beetham Tower."
The bottom left corner of a slanted roof window with a white frame, through which can be seen a green leafed tree and a blue sky.
A green and black combi drill in bright sunlight.
A grey dotted background with the words Silver Sponsor in black text. Below that the Taylor & Francis Logo is displayed which is a purple/navy circle with a white image of a lit oil lamp and the text Taylor & Francis in large text with the text by Informa and three dots below. Below this in black text is "Online day June 24, In person day July 6", the Academic Libraries North logo (an upward pointing arrowhead shape with the left side white and the right black) and a hashtag with ALN26)
A grey dotted background with the words Silver Sponsor in black text. Below that The Social History Archive Logo is displayed which is purple/navy text with The in italics with Social in bold on the row below, History below that also in bold and Archive at the bottom unbolded. Below this in black text is "Online day June 24, In person day July 6", the Academic Libraries North logo (an upward pointing arrowhead shape with the left side white and the right black) and a hashtag with ALN26)
A grey dotted background with the words Silver Sponsor in black text. Below that the Cambridge University Press Logo is displayed which is a coat of arms with a white cross with black shapes and a red centrepiece surrounded by four rampant yellow lions against a red background with the word Cambridge to the right with University Press in slightly smaller text below it. Below this in black text is "Online day June 24, In person day July 6", the Academic Libraries North logo (an upward pointing arrowhead shape with the left side white and the right black) and a hashtag with ALN26)
A grey dotted background with the words Silver Sponsor in black text. Below that the ACS Publications Logo is displayed which is a diamond with a yellow eagle as the top half and a blue lower half with the letters ACS in the corners and a piece of apparatus in the centre in yellow with text on the right in blue "ACS Publications" is above the words "Most Trusted. Most Cited. Most Read". Below this in black text is "Online day June 24, In person day July 6", the Academic Libraries North logo (an upward pointing arrowhead shape with the left side white and the right black) and a hashtag with ALN26)
A grey dotted background with the words Silver Sponsor in black text. Below that the OCLC Logo is displayed which is three overlapping coloured rings with orange in front, green behind and slightly to the right and blue at the back and slightly to the left with the text OCLC in black text to the right of the rings. Below this in black text is "Online day June 24, In person day July 6", the Academic Libraries North logo (an upward pointing arrowhead shape with the left side white and the right black) and a hashtag with ALN26)
A yellow dotted background with the words Gold Sponsor in black text. Below that the Bibliotheca Logo is displayed which is the word Bibliotheca with three red upright lines of different heights at slight angles resembling three books leaning against each other on the left of the text. Below this in black text is "In person day July 6", the Academic Libraries North logo (an upward pointing arrowhead shape with the left side white and the right black) and a hashtag with ALN26)
A lilac purple dotted background with the words Platinum Sponsor in lilac against a darker purple. Below that the Kortext Logo is displayed which is the work Kortext with a bookmark shape being formed by the negative space of the upper letter x and a separate bookmark with Est 2013 to the right. Below this in black text is "Online day June 24, In person day July 6", the Academic Libraries North logo (an upward pointing arrowhead shape with the left side white and the right black) and a hashtag with ALN26)
A slate sundial in a sunlit garden with a pensive grotesque in the background and lots of plants surrounding. The Academic Libraries North logo is in the top right, and the text "There's still time to apply!" at the bottom.
A post in the style of The Clash's "London Calling" album artwork. Text: "Manchester", in pink runs down the left of the image, "Calling" in green along the bottom. "ALN 26" in white at the top. The background is a black and white image of the Rochdale canal in Castlefield, looking towards the town centre, showing a lock, the tramline and the Beetham Tower.
A pyrographic image of a robin with its beak open.
A pink graphic, showing a black megaphone. "Call for papers" is coming out of the megaphone, with the text "ALN Conference 2026" below it. The background shows the text from the Call for Papers document.
A graphic of a piece of paper on a desk, with stationery surrounding it. "Reimagining Openness in Academic Libraries" is written in the centre, surrounded by phrases - "engagement with academic staff" "Physical openness of the library space" "OERs?" "Philosophy, Policy, Practice, Provocation?" "Open Access, open research" "Accessibility of resources" "Openness of collaboration" "Alternative formats" "Open communication?" "Removing barriers"
A bright aquamarine graphic, showing a black megaphone. "Call for papers" is coming out of the megaphone, with the text "ALN Conference 2026" below it. The background shows the text from the Call for Papers document.
A lilac graphic, showing a black megaphone. "Call for papers" is coming out of the megaphone, with the text "ALN Conference 2026" below it. The background shows the text from the Call for Papers document.
A background of lined paper split into left and right. On the left is a photo of a smiling man in a navy suit with white hair and silver glasses with the text "Professor Stephen Pinfield" above the photo and "Keynote speaker at the online day of the ALN conference 2026" in black text on a beige text box. On the right hand side is a photo of a smiling woman in a white top with wavy blonde hair with the text "Caroline Ball" above the photo and "Keynote speaker at the in person day of the ALN conference 2026, 6th July" in black text on a beige text box.
A red heart shaped ring box with a white lining on a bright red background with a burgundy heart pattern. In an arc of white text over the ring box is the phrase "There's still time to propose" and in place of a ring is the text "a submission to the ALN Conference 2026 Call for papers"
A yellow graphic, showing a black megaphone. "Call for papers" is coming out of the megaphone, with the text "ALN Conference 2026" below it. The background shows the text from the Call for Papers document.
A photo of a smiling woman in a white top with wavy blonde hair, set against a background of lined paper with the text "Caroline Ball" above the photo and "Keynote speaker at the in person day of the ALN conference 2026, 6th July" in black text on a beige text box at the bottom right of the image.
A photo of a smiling man in a navy suit with white hair and silver glasses, set against a background of lined paper with the text "Professor Stephen Pinfield" above the photo and "Keynote speaker at the online day of the ALN conference 2026- 24th June" in black text on a beige text box at the bottom right of the image. The words "Keynote speaker" and 24th June are in bold.
A cartoon of a person with long black hair in a pony tail sitting with a laptop on their lap and looking through a telescope held in their left hand. They are looking at a series of circles in various shades of blue. There is text on the circles reading "ALN conference 2026, 24th June and 6th July"
A blue gradient background with snowflake border and the text "In the bleak midwinter, yet conferences will come soon. ALN in person July 6th, Online 24th of June. Snow isn't falling, far too warm it seems. "Reimagining openness in academic libraries" is the 2026 theme.
A blue gradient background with snowflake patterns on either side. The music to In the Bleak Midwinter plays with the following lines being revealed in time to the music. "In the Bleak midwinter, yet conferences will come soon. ALN in person July 6th. Online 24th of June. Snow isn't falling, far too warm it seems. "Reimagining openness in academic libraries" is the 2026 theme.
Two books laid out on a table.
MMU Business School atrium with conference delegates
Silver sponsor graphic.
Gold sponsor graphic.
Platinum sponsor graphic.
Lecture theatre.