Call for Content Winter 2026 Issue

InsideOCULA is currently accepting submissions for the upcoming Winter 2026 issue.

An official publication of the Ontario College and University Library Association, InsideOCULA is proud to provide a forum for the exchange of perspectives and innovation across Ontario university and college libraries. We have recently worked with OCULA Council to create a Statement & actions against anti-Black racism, and we welcome submissions that share the varied and diverse experiences of library staff across the province. InsideOCULA accepts submissions of all formats (E.g., articles, videos, interviews etc.). Please see the guidelines on submission requirements.

As 2025 quickly comes to an end we find ourselves looking back on a year marked by upheaval, which has injected massive uncertainty into both the higher education and library sectors. Academic and college libraries have been forced to weather shrinking budgets, new leadership and strategic priorities, and have watched colleagues across the different areas of the library community fight book banning initiatives and unfair labour practices. We’ve also been impacted by policies enacted by Provincial, Federal, and foreign governments in ways that were hard to anticipate. This year has been one of persisting and resisting, and these efforts deserve visibility and awareness.

The theme for the Winter 2026 issue is: navigating upheaval. We are inviting submissions that: reflect on strategies for change management and weathering uncertainty; detail how shrinking budgets and resources have impacted services and workloads; recount ways libraries across Ontario have persisted in their missions despite unforeseen setbacks; and provide some guidance on how to approach being asked to do more with less.

Themes the InsideOCULA editorial team is looking to explore in Winter 2026:

• Issues of staffing (i.e. high turnover, understaffing, trouble recruiting, etc.)
• Collective bargaining and labour disputes
• Changes in strategic priorities or organizational structure
• Tight budget workarounds
• Student perspective: how are you feeling about the job market?
• The continued increase in precarious and contractual work
• What is an issue in the field you wish people talked about more?
• Job title changes and the implications for workload
• Technologies being used to replace human labour and how this impacts users
• The use of AI tools to offset demand for reference services

Have an idea not mentioned above? Please get in touch with the editorial team. InsideOCULA welcomes new ideas and can support you in sharing your experience with the larger community.

Submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis, but for Winter 2026 publication, please get in touch by December 1, 2025. Send all submissions to insideocula@gmail.com.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

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The InsideOCULA Team