What You'll Learn:
- Why librarians return to EBSCO User Group for practical ideas they can apply at their institutions
- How the event helps attendees build lasting connections with library peers and EBSCO teams
- What makes the conference experience welcoming, useful and worth revisiting each year
For academic librarians, EBSCO User Group is a chance to step away from the day-to-day, compare notes with peers and come home with ideas worth trying.
While many new faces join us every year, plenty of others just keep on coming back. Some repeat attendees return for the sessions, and others to reconnect with friends and enjoy the atmosphere. A handful more know it’s the best place to finally ask their most burning EBSCO questions. Most would probably say it is a mix of all of the above.
Each year brings new topics, new people and new challenges to work through. The User Group experience changes as libraries change, but the main reasons attendees return year over year stay the same.
Reason 1: The Learning
EBSCO User Group sessions give librarians concrete examples of how colleagues are approaching discovery, access, collection development, instruction, analytics, implementation and other everyday challenges. A new configuration, workflow or service enhancement shared in a presentation can often make a meaningful difference for an attendee. The agenda is not all polished success stories, either — presenters host honest discussions about difficulties they’ve faced and lessons they would carry into future projects.
In addition to helping libraries leverage their current subscriptions, the User Group provides a low-pressure enviroment for exploring something new. Attendees can hear directly from libraries that have implemented a solution, ask candid questions about their experience and get a better sense of whether it would fit their own needs before beginning a more formal evaluation.
The library landscape is constantly evolving, and librarians return to discuss new topics, hear different perspectives and revisit familiar challenges with more context than they had the year before.
“I have an action items list that I added to in almost every session. These sessions are great because you don't know what you don't know.” – 2026 attendee
“The EBSCO User Group has proven to be an invaluable asset, offering practical insights that have significantly improved how my team and I leverage their tools and products.” – 2025 attendee
Reason 2: The Connections
This event curates a focused community of people who understand each other’s work. Attendees can build relationships with peers who use similar systems, serve similar populations or are working through comparable institutional pressures. These relationships can become an ongoing source of advice and perspective long after the event ends. Each year offers a chance to reconnect with familiar colleagues, continue previous conversations and welcome new people into the network.
It also offers a unique opportunity to share feedback about products, services and future enhancements directly with EBSCO product managers and support specialists, without having to navigate the usual layers of virtual communication. Informal conversations can connect someone with the right person, resource or next step, and Help Desk appointments offer a focused way to work through issues specific to an institution.
“Making connections with fellow EBSCO product users was the biggest benefit. Growing a network of contacts is great.” – 2024 attendee
“I love attending user groups like this because it helps me to feel inspired... I also got to meet new faces, reconnect with friendly ones, and make important connections from around the country.” – 2025 attendee
Reason 3: The Environment
The EBSCO User Group atmosphere is open, relaxed and easy to navigate. The agenda is packed with informative sessions, but leaves plenty of space for conversations over coffee or during meals.
And yes, the food matters. The event planning team’s favorite meeting is putting together all the menus for every breakfast, lunch and event throughout the conference (and not to brag, but they always pick the best options).
The main evening reception event, sponsored by the IET and APA, offers a relaxed setting for attendees to unwind, catch up with familiar faces and enjoy the event outside of the meeting rooms with great entertainment included.
First-time attendees are supported in their journey to User Group, and returning friends are eager to come back to the community they already know. We value the feedback of all attendees and work to incorporate suggestions at future events to continue making the experience better and better.
“This is the best conference! I get so much out of this each year.” – 2024 attendee
“This was hands down the best conference I've been to in a very long time, and I think the fact that so many of my EBSCO friends and colleagues attended had a lot to do with that. I met a lot of new people, learned a ton, and had a great time!” – 2026 attendee
Join Us in Phoenix
The lasting value of EBSCO User Group comes from what attendees take home and what they continue building after the event. Practical ideas become new approaches. Conference conversations become trusted professional relationships. Questions raised one year can lead to progress the next.
Join academic library professionals and EBSCO teams in Phoenix from May 25-27 for EBSCO User Group 2027. Visit the EBSCO User Group website to learn more, register or submit a session proposal.
