Kathleen de la Peña McCook is a

library scholar A library and information scientist, also known as a library scholar, is a researcher or academic who specializes in the field of library and information science and often participates in scholarly writing about and related to library and informati ...

and

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

. She is a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Information at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

. Much of her work centers around

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

issues, and the freedom of information.

Education and career

She earned her MA in

Library Science Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with info ...

from the University of Chicago Graduate Library School in 1974, and her Ph.D. in 1980 from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

School of Library and Information Sciences. McCook has been active in a number of professional organizations within the field of librarianship. She was highly involved in the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

's Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship. She is a past president of the

Association for Library and Information Science Education The Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) (pronounced "Ah-lease") promotes education for the information professions internationally through engagement, advocacy and research. ALISE is a non-profit professional associa ...

. McCook has taught full-time since 1978. She has served on the faculties of Dominican University, the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

, and

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. Currently, she is serving as a

Distinguished University Professor Professors in the United States commonly occupy any of several positions of teaching and research within a college or university. In the U.S., the word "professor" is often used to refer to anyone who teaches at a college of university level at ...

at the

's School of Information. She also served as 2003 scholar-in-residence for the

Chicago Public Library The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the Chicago, City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, three regional libraries, and branches distributed thr ...

Awards and honors

* 2019 Joseph W. Lippincott Award for distinguished service to the profession of librarianship. * 2016 Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award, REFORMA. * 2010

Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture The Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture presented at the annual conference of the American Library Association (ALA) is tribute to the work of Jean E. Coleman to ensure that all citizens, particularly Native Americans and adult learners, ha ...

. Topic: "Librarians and Human Rights". * 2004 ALA Office of Diversity, Achievement in Diversity Research Honoree. * 2003 John Brubaker Award. Outstanding work of literary merit for article, “Social Justice, Personalism and the Practice of Librarianship,”

Catholic Library Association The Catholic Library Association is an international membership organization, providing its members professional development through educational and networking experiences, publications, scholarships, and other services. The Catholic Library Assoc ...

for article in ''Catholic Library World'' 72 ( Winter, 2001): 80–84. * 2003 Beta Phi Mu Award for distinguished service to education for librarianship. * 1997 President of the Association of Library and Information Science Education. * 1991 Named Outstanding Alumna by the

School of Library and Information Studies. * 1987 American Library Association Equality Award.

Published books

* ; 2nd ed., 2011, ; 3rd ed., with Jenny S. Bossaller, 2018, * * * * *

References

External links

Faculty web page
at the

*
Ebla to E-Books: The Preservation and Annihilation of Memory
' by Kathleen McCook at

Substack Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription-based content, including newsletters, podcasts, and video. It allows writers to send digital content directl ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCook, Kathleen de la Pena American librarians Hispanic and Latino American librarians American librarianship and human rights Living people University of Chicago Graduate Library School alumni University of South Florida faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Library and Information Studies alumni Year of birth missing (living people) American people of Scotch-Irish descent American women academics 21st-century American librarians 21st-century American women librarians American Library Association people Library science scholars Historians of libraries