Kathleen de la Peña McCook

Kathleen de la Peña McCook
File:Kathleen de la Peña McCook 2014.JPG
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	Irish, Hispanic
Alma mater	University of Illinois at Chicago, Marquette University, University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Occupation	Professor, Librarian

Kathleen de la Peña McCook is a library scholar, librarian, and activist. Much of her work centers around "social justices, human rights and First Amendment issues".

McCook has been active in a number of professional organizations within the field of librarianship. She was highly involved in the ALA's Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship. She is a lifelong member of REFORMA, and served on the organization's 1997-8 board of directors. She is past president of the Association for Library and Information Science Education.

According to a Library Quarterly study, McCook was among the top 20 American LIS researchers. Her textbook, Introduction to Public Librarianship, is frequently used in LIS courses.

McCook has taught full-time since 1978. She has served on the faculties of Dominican University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Louisiana State University; and currently serves as a Distinguished University Professor at the School of Information, University of South Florida. She also served as 2003 Scholar-in-residence for the Chicago Public Library.

Education

McCook began her collegiate studies at University of Illinois at Chicago and completed her BA in English. She then attended Marquette University, earned an MA in English, then enrolled at University of Chicago Graduate Library School, where she received a Master of Arts in Library Science degree. She then attended University of Wisconsin–Madison, School of Library and Information Studies. There she was named Outstanding Alumni. Her academic specializations include human rights; social justice and librarianship; libraries building communities; poverty and library services; adult lifelong learning and literacy; theories of reading; libraries as cultural heritage institutions; public librarianship; and Wikipedia and librarianship

Career

She began her career as a teacher for Latino communities in Chicago Public Schools, as a teaching assistant for Marquette University’s English department, a Mathematics teacher for St. Martin School, then was a reference librarian for the Elmhurst College Library. Following her time as a reference librarian, she served as Director of Public Services at Rebecca Crown Library, Dominican University. McCook has since served as a faculty member and administrator at Louisiana State University, the University of Illinois, Dominican University, and the University of South Florida, where she was Director of the School of Information 1994 until 2000, and became a Distinguished University Professor in 2002. As a professor at the University of South Florida, she teaches courses including: Human Rights and Librarianship, Public Library Seminar, Libraries as Cultural Institutions, History of Libraries, and Wikipedia & Knowledge Management. She is a member of the editorial board for the journal Progressive Librarian, serves on the Coordinating Committee of the Progressive Librarians Guild, and is a member of AFT Local 7463. McCook stated in an oral history at the University of South Florida that, as her legacy, she would like to “educate a group of students who are dedicated to preserving civil liberties and making it possible for the people in the community to have access to the information they need for their daily lives, their health, and their happiness.”

Selected awards and honors

• Women of Library History—Honoree-Women’s History Month 2014
• REFORMA 40th Anniversary Keynote Speaker, 2011
• Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecturer at the 2010 American Library Association conference
• At Valdosta State she worked on the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, “Librarians Build Communities” (2009-2012).
• Florida Library Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007
• Achievement in Diversity Research Honoree from the ALA Office of Diversity in 2004
• Chicago Public Library honored McCook as its “Scholar in Residence” where, in 2003, she conducted a series of events on the role of the public library in building communities.
• The Beta Phi Mu Award for distinguished service to education for librarianship in 2003
• McCook was the Laura McCusker Memorial Lecturer in 2003 at Dominican University. Her presentation was “Public Libraries and the Public Sphere”.
• 2002 REFORMA Latino Librarian of the Year (Trejo Award)
• Past president of the Association of Library and Information Science Education
• ALA Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award in 1998
• ALA Margaret E. Monroe Adult Services Award in 1991
• ALA Equality Award in 1987
• Named Outstanding Alumni by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies where she earned her PhD in 1980

External links

• Faculty Web site
• Progressive Librarians Guild
• University of Chicago Graduate Library School