🌟 ISLM 2025 Theme: "Beyond the Bookshelf: AI, Libraries, and the Future of Stories" 🌟

💬 Welcome Note from the ISLM Chairperson

Hello everyone! 👋

As we step into ISLM 2025, I’m thrilled to invite you on a journey “Beyond the Bookshelf” — where imagination meets innovation and stories take on new life through technology.

This year’s theme, “Beyond the Bookshelf: AI, Libraries, and the Future of Stories,” invites us to dream, create, and reimagine what libraries mean in an age shaped by artificial intelligence and digital storytelling.

Our libraries have always been places of wonder — spaces where curiosity grows and creativity thrives. But now, they’re also becoming innovation labs, where students experiment with new tools, explore AI, and bring stories to life in ways we never imagined before.

Let’s celebrate how libraries continue to evolve — embracing the future while staying rooted in what makes them magical: the joy of stories, the power of ideas, and the human connections that unite us all. 💫

With warm wishes,
Ramandeep
Chairperson, ISLM 🌍

🌈 This Year’s Focus

The ISLM 2025 theme, “Beyond the Bookshelf: AI, Libraries, and the Future of Stories,” shines a light on the exciting ways libraries are transforming in the digital age. 📖✨

It celebrates the library as a living, evolving space — one that goes beyond rows of books to embrace creativity, technology, and collaboration. This year, we invite schools and librarians around the world to explore how AI and digital storytelling can inspire new kinds of learning while keeping the heart of reading alive.

Together, we’ll discover how technology can amplify imagination, how stories can connect across cultures, and how libraries can lead us into a future where every voice has a place. 🌐💡

🎯 ISLM 2025 Objectives

📚 Promoting Literacy in the Digital Age
ISLM 2025 encourages reading in all its forms — from turning pages to exploring digital and AI-generated stories. We celebrate how libraries nurture a love for learning that blends traditional and modern literacy.

💡 Fostering Lifelong and Digital Learning
This year, we look at libraries as centers of exploration — where students not only read but also code, create, and question. Lifelong learning today means learning to navigate both books and bytes!

🏫 Advocating for Future-Ready Libraries
School libraries are the heart of innovation. ISLM 2025 highlights their evolving role — helping students and educators adapt to emerging technologies while keeping curiosity and creativity at the center of learning.

🌍 Encouraging Global Collaboration and Connection
Stories unite us across borders. Through international projects and exchanges, ISLM inspires schools to connect, share experiences, and build friendships that stretch around the world.

🎨 Celebrating Diversity and Emerging Voices
From local legends to global tales, every story matters. We celebrate books and digital narratives that reflect our diverse cultures, ensuring every student finds their voice represented and valued.

🗣️ Empowering Student Creativity and Voice
Students are the storytellers of tomorrow. ISLM 2025 gives them the freedom to experiment — whether through writing, digital art, AI tools, or video storytelling — and to express their creativity with confidence.

📘 Supporting Professional Growth for Librarians and Educators
Librarians and educators are our learning champions. ISLM supports their professional journeys through sharing resources, discussions, and training on how to harness technology responsibly and creatively.

🚀 Raising Awareness of Libraries’ Transformative Role
Libraries are no longer just about storing knowledge — they are spaces for innovation, dialogue, and discovery. ISLM 2025 shines a spotlight on their role in shaping the future of education and imagination.

💫 A Message to the ISLM Community

As we journey beyond the bookshelf, let’s remember that every great story — whether written by hand or assisted by AI — begins with curiosity.

This ISLM, let’s inspire our students to ask questions, to create boldly, and to dream without limits. Let’s remind them that even as technology evolves, the heart of storytelling — empathy, imagination, and connection — will always remain beautifully human. ❤️

Together, let’s build the future of stories — one page, one pixel, one idea at a time. 🌍📖✨